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tv   U.S. House of Representatives  CSPAN  December 2, 2013 2:30pm-9:01pm EST

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, and obviously to pay your premium by the deadline set by their insurer. be the is going to biggest spike that this administration will have seen come and people coming to the website are seeking coverage. >> that may be the case, but i would refer you to the cms briefings for what they might have about their expectations. i think it is always been the case that even prior to the problems that we had with the website, that you would see relatively small levels of april much -- of enrollment in the first month, and it was much smaller even than the level expected because of the problems with the site. and then that those numbers would increase, and that they would increase significant leak as we approached certain deadlines. december 23 is want about march 31 is another because would you -- is another.e would you agree that that would be the next weakest test
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of this process? >> all of these days in september -- december are important. the next test is to make sure that everybody out there who and are justll in all the health care insurance can do so. it is on us to make sure that they have the means and the tools necessary to do that. that is why we are continuing to work. that is why we continue to make the improvements and the changes we have made. we believe that the improvements made thus far are significant. we believe that the website as a functions today is vastly improved over what it was on launch day. we are going to continue to work every day to make sure that the goodiences for users is as as possible. >> real quickly. what does the administration state rightit the
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now? there has been a long time since we had needed -- we have had any low-level conflict with china. what do they think right now? adiz zone, that i mentioned earlier, seems to be a cents, that raises concerns. we're working closely with japan, the republic of korea, and our friends and allies in the region. withoutnounced the adiz higher consultation, even though it overlaps with parts of the of taiwan,ng adiz's japan, and korea. we do not accept the legitimacy
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of china's requirements for operating in the newly declared adiz, and the fact that china's announcement has caused confusion and increased the risk of asking its only underscores the validity of our concerns and the need for china to rescind the procedures. as we have repeatedly said, and our actions have demonstrated, we believe that these kinds of provocations are creating a risk in miscalculation. accept the legitimacy of what china announced. the vice president is in the region and as you know, holding important meetings. >> have you given that message to the chinese leaders? >> yes. can you go through the procedures that china has now requested, even though does not recognize and considers it a valid?
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>> for the safety and security of passengers, u.s. carriers operating internationally operate consistent with notices to airmen issued by foreign countries. thiser, that may be clear, in no way indicates u.s. government acceptance of china's requirement in the newly nolared adiz, and has airing on the firm position that we do not accept the legitimacy of china's requirements. without the safety and security of passengers, it is not the indication of our change of position. not accept the legitimacy of china's requirements. thank you. >> it sounds like you did not meet the deadline. the more i listen to your is vastlyou say it improved. there has been significant progress. not necessarily that it is
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working well and effectively for the vast majority of users of a as you acknowledged with jim and john and others. people are still getting the same error messages. >> i think you're confusing error messages with the queuing message, which is a everything entirely. they queuing messages are aces until that was created an upgraded to create a more sophisticated waiting time when there were surges in traffic on the website. reached number of users a certain level, people would get those messages that they were placed in a queue. if they wanted to enroll, there was a better time for them to come back. >> they are still not enrolling. they are in a different line but -- >> i contest that. i would ask you to find anywhere where i said that everybody would be able to enroll instantly on this day. >> the goal is obviously to enroll more people, right?
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if they are still waiting -- >> i would point you to the fact that more people are visiting to site, and are able effectively go from beginning to end when it comes to enrolling than was the case in october and november. significant improvements have been made. the vast majority of users we believe are able to use the website and have it function effectively for them. that does not mean, and we never said it would mean, there would be no problems moving forward. that there were never be an error message, or a delayed response for a page to load. that is certainly not the case with even the most high functioning commercial websites of complex the and size. what our goal is is to make sure that we continue to improve the overall experience. the purpose here is to make sure that americans have access to affordable health insurance. the healthcare.gov website is an
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important part of that. we work everyday to make the permits necessary. >> compared to the private sector, the reports over the weekend support that the private sector velocity and effectiveness now. thatou reasonably expect working under that effectiveness, according to the worktration, with 24/7 with outside consultants, that you can keep that same level of effectiveness, as you call it over the next month i'm a and years, and is it -- as it is really the government doing it? it was not working before, you now say this working with private sector velocity. any reasonably keep up that face? >> i was a couple of things about that. the answer is yes, we can in the workahead continue to around the clock as we have in recent days and weeks to make the necessary permits. what is absolutely the case
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is that the private sector does some things very well, and better than the government can't. . running effective websites may be one of them. what the portable care act one site demonstrates is that it is important for the government to take action in order to do something that the private sector has failed to do, which is produced -- reduce the inflation rate in health care costs. we saw prior to the passage of the affordable care act was in arm is increases annually in the amount of morning -- money that the country spends on health care. what we have seen that the passage of the affordable care act, contradicting every addiction made by those who opposed it, was that the cost of health care and the growth of those costs have been declining. that has been a significant goal set by the affordable care act of and a significant achievement over these three years. these three years have seen the lowest growth in health-care costs of any time in the past
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half-century. -- it goesg to keep to the heart of the matter, the websitef the matte -- we tookccessful, and hours monthly to make those fixes as quickly as we could make so that it functions more effectively for those americans who want health insurance. they want affordable quality coverage, and that is what we are working to create. inwith the short term take until, it may 2017, when this president leaves office. you will see almost every state running their own exchanges, and running medicaid to and it will work well. is this the goal here, that it will take years? david made an important
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point, which is based on the decision allowed by the supreme of a number of republican governors to cut their constituents out of the possibility of getting covered through medicaid. a number of seen as rubble looking governors make the decision against the ideological advisors of their counterparts, to expand medicaid coverage for their coverage in ohio, and elsewhere. what he is saying is because of the wisdom of that choice, for those constituents, eventually, i do nothe 2017 -- and think that 2017 is that far in the future, that that decision will be made, even by republican governors. because, there are millions of americans for are being left out of the possibility of given --
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getting medicaid because of that ideological decision. we are continuing to work with states to urge them to provide that benefit to their constituents paid clicks there are democrats saying that they would like to see improvement by 2014. they have a big election coming up. >> we're talking about medicaid -- >> medicaid is critical to turn the corner on this whole thing. >> i do not think that that went -- is what david was saying. we have seen improvements. youth you talk to the democrats, they are as frustrated as we are with how the launch of the website began. they would also say that there have been significant improvements in the functionality of the website, and that we have passed an important milestone on november the 30th. we are going to see those improvements continue over the course of december and into next year. as i think someone noted earlier, the deadlines we are
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looking at, we are looking at making sure that those americans who want insurance the the exchanges have it if they wanted by january 1. and also, that everybody who wants to enroll during this si x month enrollment. can do so by march 31. just to make clear that i understand them a the 375,000 number that you brought to us today, do you have any sense of what number of those people are actually able to get to the site , as opposed to had to queue? 375,000 got to do whatever they wanted, or -- >> that his overall visitors to the website. that sadly demonstrates the -- simply demonstrates the level of interest today, which we anticipated. >> a document that refers to it,
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says that the tech team is able to work with the private sector velocity and the fact of this. is it that in the very language that they used a confession or an indictment of the way government works? they are only now able to achieve something salute to the private sector? indignant that is about how the website worked on october 1. jeff and those who he is working with set out to achieve a goal by november 30. >> the private sector velocity -- , as someone with a huge amount of experience in the private sector, jeff was able to make the assessment that he did. we have a team that he is manage, toelping to work at peak effectiveness. because of that, they have been able to make some of the improvements that we wanted to
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make, and will continue to work to make sure that this experience for those millions of americans who want quality affordable health insurance continues to improve. >> 7 million uninsured americans would be able to sign up. that was a productive -- projection. numberbelieve that that right now is still attainable? projection bye cbo, not ours, and i do not think we put in america project in on what we've all caps to see by march 31. our goal is to make sure that everybody who wants to enroll through the exchanges is able to do so. andng the open enrollment, we believe that those numbers will be sufficient and the pool of people who will enroll up necessary diversity to make sure that it will work as envisioned.
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for some of these numerical question, the cms reefing might be a better place to go. we believe that as we continue to see improvement, and we continue to see americans successfully register and enroll, we will begin to make the progress necessary toward the kind of population of people who are going to avail themselves of the insurance on the exchanges that we hoped. >> i wanted to get your thoughts , senator dianne said we were not where we wanted to be. terror is up more than two years ago. she went on and on. dear chris -- do you disagree with that statement? >> we share with senator feinstein and every other lawmaker who focuses on these issues the belief that we need to be intensely vigilant as a
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nation in making sure that we are doing everything we can to protect ourselves against those who would do us harm. >> are we safer? >> i do not think that that work is never done. every day that we succeed in working potential attacks , andst american interests interests of our allies is important. but that work never ends, and we are ever vigilant as we combat the many threats that this country faces. that whenindicated jeff moved to his post, that someone would succeed him in the role of helping of health care.cogov. do we have any indication as to his successor? >> the role that i understand it that jeff has played and continues to play will be filled leaves, and as you
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noted, will take over as director at the nec. director sebelius believes that that is an important role, and we have seen in the way that jeff has worked in that role, management position needs to be filled even after he comes over to the white house. -- i believe that jeff works for cms in his current arrangement, so i do not have any intermarriage -- information on the structure of that and how that will work moving forward. i do not know that it will look any different than it does today. it is corrected that it is the secretary cost -- secretary intention that that will be filled after jeff leaves. >> has the decision been made to they jeff's movement from
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specialists assignment to the white house? >> i am not sure that there was a specific end date on that. i know that jeff will come to the white house early next year. that position that he is filling now will be filling by a successor. thatnoticed that last week president obama, and you today, using theosh avoided word obamacare. is that now -- >> i came out and talked about obamacare several times. >> i do not hear people using the word anymore. >> watchword? >> obamacare. >> i think you're going to sue me somewhere. [laughter] fine witht i am
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calling obamacare, the president is fine with it. we are focused on making sure that the care part is delivered to the americans that want it. whether it is the affordable care act, obamacare, or anything else, what matters to the president is that the benefits available to every american who gets covered through the exchanges, or have covered all the -- already, is delivered. or one of us who has insurance coverage already has benefits from the afford will care act, from obamacare. child between 18 and 26, that child is now able to stay on your insurance coverage, where before they were not. there are benefits when it comes insurers,bility of because of the afford will care act, throw you off the plan
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because of a pre-existing condition. benefits that will kick in once the exchanges cake and will be long. we are focused on the care and making sure that the americans who clearly want affordable quality health care insurance are able to get access to it and purchase it. can you give us an update as to how much it has cost so far to build and to fix healthcare.gov? >> you have to ask cms. that came ine under individual objects were contractors. i do not have the figures. >> we have checked with cms, and -- isave referred us to it ok for them to give us the updated figures? >> i'd have to check. >> can we get that updated
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information? >> yes. talk to us about what the president is doing in the efforts to try to stave off and other government shutdown? popularity --the the possibility of a situation like it was a few weeks ago. one, itple of things, is hard to imagine that republicans would want to go down that road again. a number of republicans have assured the american people that they would not shut the government down again over an ideological pursuit. we're working with the relevant members of congress and leaders, too -- and try to find an agreement on the maket and ensure that we
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investments necessary to help our economy grow. that would make the right choices when it comes to how we fund the variety of things the boat -- government does. i do not have a rubber support on that except that we certainly agree with those republican leaders who have said since the debacle that they impose on the american economy ended, that they will not do that again. >> he came up and said that the shutdown was overcoming was while it happened again, and he said no. what is the white house doing to prevent that? >> again, i would refer you back to that experience./ we asked for nothing in return for keeping the government open. when itmade clear that comes to budget deal, to make a reasonable compromise to make sure that the economy grows faster, create more jobs for the middle class and it is more
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secure. that we make the kind of investments that help our, grown not just now but in the future. the only side in this ideological debate, or this debate that has been put forward as a copper has a plan that -- a copper has a plan that has included the development over the past couple of years has been the president. we hope and believe that the republicans who said they would not shut down again meant it. >> what would the white house say is a good number that they can work with, that is acceptable when it comes to undercut -- budget cuts? >> i'm not sure i understand. >> those on the hill say they want to cut 90,000. >> i am not sure.
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i could not negotiate from h ere. the president has been clear about his priorities. >> as the president signed up under the affordable care act? >> he has said that he will, and the white house and said that he will. we do not have an update. qwest you know what he is waiting for? public?u make that the prime minister of the republic has called in some thessadors, and has all hallmarks of a potential -- any --e white house have >> we do not consider peaceful
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demonstrations as to attempt -- coup attempts. we know that the police have exercised restraint since then, but there have been numbers of reports of members of the media being targeted. we urge the leaders to respect their people's rights to expression and assembly. these respect for universal values on which the united states's partnership with ukraine depends. ofcall on the government ukraine to foster a positive environment for civil society and to protect the rights of all ukrainians to express their views on the country's future in a constructive and peaceful manner. violence and intimidation should have no place in today's ukraine. to support the aspirations of the ukrainian people to achieve a prosperous
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european democracy. european integration is the surest course of economic growth and strengthening ukraine's democracy. thanks very much. >> here at the end of this briefing you can see it in its entirety on c-span that -- you can wor. live coverage here on c-span again now coming back at 5:00 p.m. eastern.
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we posted a question on our facebook page asking about your thoughts on congressional prod uctivity. a couple of responses. michael says, when you elect people who are contentious of government, you'll get that government. tracy offers the, hail hail term limits, hourly pay. congress has to me perks, and privileges. you can post your thoughts at facebook.com/bcspan, . coming up on c-span2, french opposition leader john prince walkup a -- will talk about his recent nuclear deal with iran. live on c-span3 starting at 6 p.m. eastern. 1974, vicet 9,
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president ford was sworn in as the president of the united states. this is the dress that mrs. ford was wearing. she was less than excited about becoming first lady, but presidentand board -- ford encouraged her, saying that we can do this. she result that if she was going to do this, she was going to have fun doing it. within 10 days, she had a state dinner to contain -- to entertain. she hit the ground running. tonight lady betty ford on c-span radio, and c-span.org. >> social media is a very old idea. we think that it is recent, and only people alive today have ever done it. really what i'm arguing is there
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is a long tradition of social media that goes back to the era of the late roman republic's. the point is that you do not need a digital network to do social media. if you have one, it goes faster, but you can actually do it in the old days. messengersls, running to and fro, and other members of the roman elite were spoke to eachhim, other, and it was a social environment. there are many other samples that occur throughout history. tom payne and his pamphlet common sense, and the way that pamphlets were more used radley in the run up to the american revolution. tonight on c- scotusblogunders of
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spoke as part of a panel that included pete williams of nbc news and tony morrow. universityted by the of georgia. this is an hour, 15 minutes. >> good morning, and thank you for coming. i am jeffrey jones, director of the peabody awards, and you are ritual -- the richard russell collections library can titles ines 70,000 the peabody award archives. i encourage your room during the break to walk across the hall and see the peabody award miller, one ofry the wonderful peabody archivist, is here, and will be glad to give you a tour. welcome to this solidity.
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the peabody awards, if you do not know, are the oldest award in broadcasting, and now, as he say of electronic media, because several years ago we did expand the types of awards we gave, as we move into the digital era. today is a special day for us, because we get to celebrate one of the first winners -- excuse first blog we have ever given an award too. we will talk at length about why does that matter, or doesn't matter, and how does that shape our access to an understanding of the supreme court and who gets to engage in them and how. the moderatorbe of the first panel, and we will segue then into that. and tom, as the creator of theusblog, i will direct
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first questions to you. i will not have a history of the creation and evolution of the blog, but it would be best if you could very briefly describe for our audience just what scotusblog is. >> sure. indulgence.sk your the first thing i can say is this is the kind of thing that anybody has ever done in blogs, and we are grateful in receiving the peabody, which is the greatest honor we have ever received, that people would go to the trouble of putting on this event, that friends of ours who are more experienced and better than us, like tony and pete, would come down and talk about the blog is really an exceptional kind of thing. to all involved and to you for coming to the program, you really grateful. the second thing is on some level this is a program that has
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the name scotusblog in it, but it is not just about scotusblog. my sense has been the peabody has looked at scotusblog as an illustration of broader trends in media, and that is what are we doing with specialized websites that cover a particular topic? scotusblog, while it has been fortunate in receiving the peabody, has been one of the places like that and it is not especially special, or does inc., but it allows us to do a case study, the problems, the benefits of media like that and so i think this is an opportunity to talk about those issues and not make it as if scotusblog is so very special. it is about media into position. pick up myme phone, is it we may be writing
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to the blog over twitter during the program. [laughter] john mccain and i have a game going -- [laughter] just so you do not think i'm being rude =--- and for those of you who are watching in the streaming war on c-span, i encourage you to come visit this unbelievable facility at the peabody function. it is a short very. scotusblog is an information portal, and we will talk about what had as been in the past. it has the legacy of having been the word -- of having the word "blog" in it. is to be a comprehensive source of information about one institution, and that is we want to have everything that is going on about every case that the justices are considering, and that sounds more sweeping that
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it is, because the justices only decide about 80 cases a term. we attempt to talk about every conceivable audience, and that is we started out talking to lawyers and other people who were practicing in front of the supreme court. towe had the great fortune become better known and we have things like the health care decision am a same-sex marriage, the voting rights act, and the public has gotten to know us, we have features of "like amy's playing english, so we are intending to push out information to people who are middle school or high school, college students come all the way to people who have law degrees and up and exiting all the way to the supreme court for two decades. our goal if you want to have one base you want to learn about the supreme court, you will come to us, and we will give you link us to tony's articles, to pete's pieces on nbc, and we can be a public good
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about the supreme court. >> if you would, tell us about how this began. you venture off to create a blog. what was in your mind? >> it was started by accident, as many good things are. amy and i0 years ago, were sitting at our house, and i thought, hey, there is this thing called blogging about which you can start for free, and why don't we start one about the supreme court. the idea being we were practicing in front of the stream court, and my theory was that if we were to develop a web presence about the supreme court that people would look to us and say, gosh, these are the experts, we should hire them for our supreme court case. that was utterly wrong and terribly foolish. it turns out to be not true at all, but that was the idea. we, like so many people, started with that the cost of
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distribution was zero. we had information about the supreme court, we were practicing their, and you could create a website or blog or frenetic at all, and that is how it starts with people. there are people who are the most successful bloggers, which does not include us, folks have something that they have a passion to say about. we have an economic theory which was that if the general counsel of general electric would say, hey, we need a supreme court court, for a case in the why don't we get the people who have the website that is not actually happen. the people who are in practice like carter phillips and ted olson are unbelievably talented lawyers, but it is what got us off the ground, the idea that we knew about the supreme court, that there were did not seem to be a website, there was this emerging form of blogging that would not cost us anything, and
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that it develop from that point forward. that is how it started one day. about a week leader, we were pretty much done with it. on the first day, a website blog called how appealing have posted a link to a link to us from the 35th -- and 35 people came to visit. to stop would have looked bullish. 10 years leader and the huge stats and millions of stats, later, we were embarrassed. >> what impediments have you faced as you moved forward, and how it was received at first and how you gained it ability? -- gained credibility? >> i think we are an example of -- we know just enough to be dangerous. what i mean by that is i think
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both form and experience can give you some benefits, and that is the form of blogging that gave us the benefit, the cost of distribution is zero. experience gave us benefits. the press corps had been unbelievably generous. on the other hand, a form can constrain, and that is that if you are in a newspaper or if you are in television, you are going a produce information in particular way, whereas on the internet and with blogging, there was no predefined form. we could be anything we wanted. we did not know enough from experience to say this is what we should be. so our great benefit is this couldn't be done before. we weren't a part of any broader institution that had a message or a mode of communicating. we had no profit
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responsibilities. we didn't have any other staff that we were paying. it was the law firm staff working on the blog in the first instance. mostly what we had was a chance to do something completely different. when you're trying to do something completely different, you're going to screw up a lot and we certainly did. there were lots of cases that we didn't cover. the blog really focused a lot on the law firm in the early days if you go back to use the internet wayback machine. a lot of cases that we're doing. the blog's first five years or so while they were really interesting don't compare in any way the second half of existence because it was halfway through that we decided that the blog's mission had to change completely. that is the idea that we would be out there on the internet and write about the supreme court and the law practice was going
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to thrive as a result was misguided and wasn't working. what we needed to do was give up on the original mission of the blog and do something good. as was mentioned -- you deserve nothing other than that. the blog was started as a complete exercise in self-interest. a lot has to happen in the capitalistic economy that has to happen. blogging in general is self-motivated. you want to get up in the morning and write in the blog because you want to express yourself. it's rare that you get to the point that you have the resources or the reputation or opportunities to just create a public good. it was when miles came onboard. we had an actual reporter to show us what journalistic standards were, the level of objectivity that was required, we did things to put in fire walls so people in the law firm couldn't be writing
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about the law firm's cases. we realized that the form of blogging, what was self- contraining us, that is if you're just going to write about the supreme court that day, a couple of things are going to happen. there's lots of archival materials about the court brief and that sort of thing that you're not going to present. we have pages now. we can get all of the briefs from the blog. there is something interesting about blogging. you put a date or time stamp on something. the next day, or two hours later, its's somehow cold, it's dead, it's old. so we needed to break out of that form so people would use the blog as a broader resource. that's what i meant about form constraining.
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scotus blog is on some level not a blog. you can come and read each of the individual posts. it was at that point that we decided that we could be much more. we could provide all of the briefs on the cases. now we take the docket of the court itself. we scrape it, we interleanate all of the links to the briefs themselves. we do a lot more multimedia. we do a lot more with twitter, that sort of thing. we decided that because we don't have anybody else that we work for, we're just going to be electronic. we're going to be electronic media, which is what the peabody focuses on. so we can do anything we want. every year we will try to change. this year, we will roll out a mobile app, a mobile site. it's an evolution of what we've been able to see and it's interesting.
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>> continuing on that, amy, would you describe kind of the variety as the editor, the variety of content that you want to provide for your audience, especially when the court's out of session and in session if you could describe that? >> covering the supreme court, you know, the justices are quite busy for the most part from october to the end of june. june is a crazy month to blog. we'll have sometimes over a dozen posts in one day. then the justices go away on their summer vacations. unless we have manna from heaven, the confirmation hearing, nothing from the supreme court for the most part happens. we look at things in two ways. both in terms of archiving the brief, but previewing the case before the oral argument.
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a recap of what happened at the the oral argument. and analysis of the decision when it comes out. and we have the long term look that is both looking ahead at what's going to happen at the court next term, looking back at the big picture what happened in the court in the previous term. we have the day-to-day coverage in terms of the roundup of the news and events of the court, the developments of the court, things like filing a particular brief that might be significant. we also have to fill the summers. we use on-line similar pose yeah where we use six or eight posts from people who know an area of the law. we have affirmative action. recess appointments case. going to be at the court. we'll have legislative prayer, abortion. we will try very, very hard to
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make sure that if we've got eight contributors, we have four from one side or four from the other. we will hear from people if they don't have a near perfect balance. we'll let them write 1500 or a few thousand words on what they think the court is going to do, what they think the court should do in these particular areas and we'll post that to try to fill some of the contents. >> you asked a question about credibility. you are a single issue blog. that allows for the type of depth of coverage that tom described. and the amount of space that traditional journalism broadcasts or tony filing single stories with "usa today" offers you. but tell me about the perception of credibility. how has that changed over time? i would like the journalists to weigh in on that as well. >> i think the journalists are better suited than i am to describe the credibility. i think we had leaders from all
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different walks of life, in particular, the small community of lawyers that practice in front of the supreme court early on. we know we had readers because we made mistakes in the early days. one of the darkest memories is getting an e-mail from a well- known and well-respected supreme court practitioner who said you might want to look at the posts you just put up. he just referred to the church of ladder -- l-a-d-d-e-r saints. >> climbing jacob's ladder. >> exactly. it was an intern named jacob, in fact. so that sort of thing did happen and could not have helped our credibility. people looked at the quality on a post-by-post basis.
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we had at that time some terrific contributors. but the quality uneven. but i think in 2004 when we got lyle to come onboard, our quality improved. as our quality improved with lyle's reporting, then the other contributors improved as well. for those of you who aren't familiar with how we operate, the court has 80 cases per year. the boots on the ground on the court with the day-to-day developments and he can cover somewhere between a third and a half of the cases themselves. the major case. we rely on other lawyers and law professors to help us cover the other 50 cases or so. and we really have gotten some terrific contributors.
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we also had terrific contributors. but the number have been proved quite a bit in years past. i think that we see a reflection of the increased credibility of the blog. >> tom and amy do many things -- thank you for having us and inviting me. tom and amy do things well, one thing they do awfully is brag. the fact is -- think about it for a second. tom does not come to practice before the supreme court by the usual route. he was not a clerk. he didn't follow the well- trodden path from the law firm, to the fancy firm. tom is a self-starter. he developed his practice by looking at the most likely route for cases to get to the supreme court when the lower courses were divided.
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one function the court does is harmonize how the law is enforced and views around the country. so when there is what they call a circuit split, that's a likely case for the supreme court. tom developed a way for the circuit splits and maybe that's a case that can come to the supreme court. a lot of big law firms in washington would kill to have the scotusblog. one of the thingings we have to celebrate here today is the incredible spirit of entrepreneurship that tom and amy have brought to this. they'll never tell you that. there have been imitators that have tried to be like scotus blog that fizzle out in the heat of the sun pretty fast. it's an enormous accomplishment. they make it sound just as easy as eating breakfast. it has enormous credibility now. it's read not only by the
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practitioner of cases who will find mistakes, if there are the rare mistakes now, it's read by the justices of the court. it's read by distinguished professors around the country who write for the blog. it's the place. it's more than just an aggregator. lots of aggregators out there who post them on an electronic bulletin board. there are a lot of commentary places where lots of people hang out and give their views on the prominent legal issues of the day. but there is only one place like scotus blog for any of the federal courts that offers original content, learned commentary, it offers a place to find all of the original source materials about cases. it truly has become the indispensable one stop shopping place for things about the supreme court.
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it's just an astonishing accomplishment. it strikes me as incredibly apt it would receive a peabody award. it's a truly remarkable accomplishment. i forgot the question. the credibility over time -- it has none. >> how does the journalistic community first receive this and -- >> let me say that the -- i'll give you a small example. one of the things that gives the site credibility like john and amy said is the contributions of lyle who's, what, 150 years old now? count the rings. he's covered the court longer than some of the justices have been alive. he's taught in law schools. he writes learned graceful prose
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under deadline pressure and he's just an institution unto himself. so we do have to pay a lot of attention. let me give you one small example. the supreme court community was shocked a couple of years ago when a relatively young man named david souter who had been on the supreme court decided i'm out of here. i'm not having fun, i don't like living in washington. i'm leaving. tom goldstein said one day soon, elena kagan would look on the supreme court and look at the other two women and smile. that's his prediction on who was going to be nominated and confirmed. as you know, he was exactly right. so one of the things that gives the site its credibility is the knowledge and expertise of tom and amy. so that's another thing that, you know, it's not just tom and amy are -- and one of the reasons that they fared so well is they answered their phone calls.
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they know that a relatively small number of lawyers who specialize in practicing before the supreme court. you tend to see them over and over again. try to get one of them on the phone to answer a technical question. tom has been generous with his time. that's one of the reasons why journalists have kind of flocked to tom and scotusblog in the early days before it took its current form. they know a lot about how it works. they've been generous with their time. they compiled statistics about the alignment of justices over the term, how often they agree with each other, how many cases are decided by unanimous decision. you can see those quoted and cited in "the new york times" in "the washington post," it's the go-to source for that sort of statistical analysis as well.
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so they've earned this credibility, not only by the sort of people they have attracted, but because they have a great deal of knowledge and expertise about the court themselves. >> tom? >> well, picking up on what peter said, first of all, i'd say that tom had a lot of credibility before the blog started. i first started writing tom when he was -- when he was the attorney for nina totenberg and npr. as an upstart, as somebody who was not did not fit the mold as pete said, somebody who was cold calling the losers of cases in lower courts to see if they wanted to appeal for the supreme court, it was a model that
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hadn't been used before. and i remember interviewing another top advocate of the supreme -- before the supreme court and asked him about tommy and he said well, you know, you wouldn't want your heart surgery done by the heart surgeon who called you up and asked if you could do it. >> who was that? >> fellow by the name of john roberts, who became the chief justice. i think he's sort of eating his words on that. tom had the reputation of a real innovator in the stuffy world of the supreme court. and he was a good media source. so when the blog came along, he was -- he and amy were able to overcome some initial suspicions because this was a totally unique creature here. it was a blog about an
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institution by someone who interacted with that institution as an advocate. somebody who wouldn't have an interest in pissing off that institution, to be blunt about it. as journalists sometimes do. we tend to do that. i had a editor that said if a journalist isn't happy about what you write, you're not doing your job. the fact that scotusblog became overcame that suspicion through the credibility and
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through lyle, who's fiercely independent, i think that enhances the remarkable nature of scotusblog and how it's become viewed as a journalistic institution in almost every way. i mean, it's possible we could talk about this at some point. whether there are stories you might not write because you are arguing before the supreme court. but i think as a public resource and i'm all -- i spent my career trying to lift the veil and shed light over the supreme court. i applaud anybody who's done that. scotusblog has been a remarkable public resource that deserves all of the applause it gets.
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>> that's obviously way, way, way too generous. i would say one of -- in my opinion, this ought to be what you can extrapolate from our experience rather than, yay, scotusblog. all right, if we were going to do things in other places. what you have in us is people who practice in front of the supreme court and teach about litigation. we know that place. anybody who spends their entire careers focusing on one place, is going to understand it pretty well. what we aren't is journalists, we appreciate journalists. we revere them. we grew up working for people like tony and pete who are better journalists than we hope better journalists than we hope to be. there is a sense in the expert community, whether it's lawyers, doctors, whatever, we're better, the journalists just
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report. but the genuine appreciation for and the honor we give to journalism is true. so that's reflective of, you know, why it is that if tony or pete or any of their colleagues come and ask us a question, we think it's an unbelievable opportunity. it's also the case that people on the supreme court bar are more reactive and just don't like to talk to the press. they're afraid. they think something will go wrong, it will upset the justices. that's never been our perspective. we really value it. it led us to hire lyle and led us to adopt a set of values where if we were just out there pimping ourselves and the law practice, the blog would look very different and much less successful. however well it does or doesn't do right now turns on the fact that people do not perceive it as something they're trying to sell you something or to develop some advantage for our law
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practice. i think tony raises an important set of issues that should be discussed. can you practice in front of the supreme court and your success there depends on the credibility with the justices, and at the same time run an institution that's going truly cover the supreme court and describe it, warts and all, and how is it that you navigate that sort of thing, if you want to call yourself a journalistic institution. now, if you're an expert in physics or plumbing, there are lots of things that you can talk about and write about and cover where you don't face the dilemma of pissing some people off. we -- the justices pay attention to their press.
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so there are a unique set of challenges. i'll identify one other thing that we could talk about. that is that we watch the court with a sunlike intensity because we're completely obsessed with it. so we have a finger on the pulse of the institution. so that when it has glitches, as it does, releases opinions early when it doesn't mean to, when it identifies cases that are going to grant cert in days early, and it's not supposed to do that, we're just watching them obsessively, what is it that we practice in front of the court, what do we do there? there are special challenges. with apologies, i'll ply one other thing.
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the weirdest anomaly about scotusblog. we have 200 people write for us in the year. we're only about the supreme court. we're the only people who materially cover the supreme court in the thinnest way that the supreme court itself refuses to recognize. we don't have a press credential at the court. the court has followed a rule that says if you have a senate press credential that you will be credentialed by the supreme court. we've got the senate credential earlier this year and then applied to the court's press office at which point the court announced it was reviewing the credentialing practices. i think genuinely, the court is an institution that is very staid. its entire premise is that things shouldn't change that much.
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during the same-sex marriage case, i was gone -- i was not going to wait for them to report it. i was waiting for scotusblog -- so explain the nuts and bolts. >> the courtroom itself is a all caps. there are no electronic vices around. nots are for the most part in the courtroom. they are outside. is the point that the chief justice system at the justice in the has the opinion
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united states vs, windsor, they start handing out the opinions to the press corps. lyle will get his copy of the opinion and pete will be outside waiting for his copy of the opinion. and will talk to us about what the opinion says. we will be taking that into our live blog to go out to the rest of the world. >> so to finish soft, we're going to take advantage of every opportunity we have. there are whole series of rules at the supreme court that are, to be perfectly frank, adopted to prevent our evasion of various policies at the supreme court. so we're not recognized as members of the press corps, ok, we're not going to be subject to any of the constraints that the press corps has. so the core press corps at the supreme court, the court makes a set of public information available to them. where you can have two people.
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we will have seven people running on five different internet connections in another two unidentified places in the building. [laughter] so when the final decisions of the term came down, we had a massive team of people lawyers. hackers attempted to crash the blog. the court does -- i shouldn't leave the impression that the court is agnosit or trying to prevent us from getting access. because it does give lyle denison a pass. the court is not trying to block us.
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we are members of the bar, so we will sit into the lounge, and keep our phones. the press corps is locked in. they used to allow us to keep our phones and leave. but they adopted a rule to keep your phone in the locker. >> blog from the -- >> this is the fourth rule that was created to address our practices was there was an oral argument. the audio was being piped in. i was -- no problem with this. i'll just live tweet the oral argument. and i got a call from the
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marshal of the court who said, tom, we noticed this twitter thing. we don't know what that is. but straight on to the blog. straight on to the blog. that's right. i didn't see you in the courtroom, what was going on? i said i was in the lawyer's lounge writing away. she said that's not going to happen anymore. and the next day there was no el electronic devices in the lawyer's lounge. we have great advantages. experience and form present opportunities but they also constrain. if you go in there and say, look, i have this technology, you have a set of rules, look,
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i'm going to look at 2 rules there. nobody's done that before? that's not my problem. you're going to screw a lot of things up. we're going upset some people. what i suggest is that people should look for targets of opportunity. there are a lot of institutions and places that are fascinating. if you were to come out and look and say i'm going to do that, you could get an audience. for a million people sitting and waiting for the health care decision. we have to thank cnn and fox for contributing to the reputation that the blog develops. we have to thank the press in many different ways. but it's an extraordinary statement about how it is there's a hunger for information out there. how there are a series of institutions that their goal is not to make themselves more accessible. the supreme court is ironic
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because they're the most open. you know all the cases they're going to hear. you see the results in their opinions. unlike the presidency, unlike congress in any way. so at the same time it does little to explain itself to the public. it leaves itself out there. that's waiting to come along and say, ok i'll explain that place to you. because it's so focused, there are so few cases. it creates an incredible opportunity for us. if you imagine trying to cover the presidency in the blog, who knows what in the world they're thinking, what information is being presented. the same with congress. there are other things out there in the world, other areas of study, other places where you can literally own them. those are waiting to be discovered.
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>> i want to follow up on that. tony and pete see us on a month-to-month, week-to-week, year-to-year basis, have made the judgment about the blog's credibility. but for reporters who don't cover the court regularly and all of a sudden they have a water case out of texas and they need 20 know what the supreme court is going to do with it. they find us. i don't think they know a lot about us. but they know we purport to be experts on the supreme court. we're willing to talk to them and be resources for people on all kinds of topics. we get fashion advice. what can i wear. when do i get in line? we got a lot of cause about the investment funds and hedge funds about when the court was going to issue its decision. if you decide you're going to dominate a small enough niche,
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sort of a mind over matter, you can do it. >> i want to ask a question that any and all of you can address. let's talk about the role that scotusblog has played, providing a platform for dialogue, a platform for additional reporting. that opening up it seems to me is with the legal community. the scholarly experts around the law can be very tightly arranged around law schools and journals. how has law school opened up the opened up theblog knowledge of the court, the
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information about it. the legal community and who's involved in this discussion. >> i would say that it has maybe broadened the circle of people with special knowledge. it's brought more people into the tent, to use a different term. because you could always get this sort of insidy kind of feeling about the supreme court by going to the annual seminar that law schools put on about the court or reading law journal articles or hanging out with other law professors who are obsessed with the institution as much as tom and amy are, but scotus blog has invited basically the entire country to come in and be a party to these discussions. so i think one of the things that we have to talk about today is the flow of information about the court. no single institution, scotus blog included, can fundamentally change the way the court decides to let you know what it's up to.
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because, remember, it all starts with nine justices, only nine. there are no staff people in the room when it decides to hear or not hear a case. decisions don't leak. we're talking about another -- this is very unusual about the supreme court. the number of times in the last century that what the supreme court was going to do in the case has leaked out. i think it's two. they're well documented and both resulted in the way the court operates to make sure that didn't happen again. the flow of information is controlled by the court. and so, you know, i don't think any blog or news organization can change that. but the access to it. the scotus blog has changed that by gathering around the water cooler and hearing what the supreme court is up to. >> i would agree. i won't tell too many old guy stories.
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when i first started covering the supreme court, it was literally -- if you were not in d.c. or you didn't have a friend in d.c. who could go down to the courtroom and get the physical copy of the decision and put it on a fax machine or something, it was not accessible. you could not get an opinion until the u.s. law released it, printed it up, sent it to you in the mail three days later. it's remarkable. the court entered this field gingerly. they have a decent website. they do put up decisions fairly soon after they are announced. but i think the -- what the blog has done has been an amplifier of that and has added value to
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what this is a place that lives on the principle there won't be much change. that kind of nondynamic environment is an opportunity, not an obstacle. modest, that sounds there are significant changes, the fact there is an online document. this lives on the printable there's not much change. that kind of environment and opportunity, not an obstacle to him and there is a a institution that a lot of people care about where sometimes lots of people will tune in. will tailor the a constitutional right to same-sex marriage? yes, there's a big part of the population that's interested in that.
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is obama care constitutional? a huge number of people will focus on it in an institution that won't adapt itself because it's very staid to getting that information out there. in terms of what it is we're able to do as part of a national conversation, it should be clear to everyone that we are hardly alone. so, for example, american lawyer media, for which tony now works, has this wonderful publication, supreme court insider, which is getting more information about the court. pete reports on the law, the justice department, the supreme court. instead of one platform in nbc news, msnbc, and the website of nbc news. so i do think that we are far from alone in taking advantage of the lower cost of distribution. we should talk about the economic models. tony operates on one. some of the materials free through the blog.
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some of it is a subscription only through the supreme court insider. pete's work is advertisement supported. we have a sponsor in bloomberg law that's been essential to financing a huge number of things that we do. one thing is how much do you allow the broader community to participate through the website in comments in particular. there are websites that have comments that one out of every three is intelligible. i'll give you an example. they have a community of people who do write some very interesting things. >> this is named after a law professor named gene volik. >> our experience was uniformly horrific. i'll say that. we originally had anonymous commentary.
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then people felt constrained and couldn't control themselves. this is unfortunate. we'd like to be part of an actual -- a forum for a national -- >> as a user of the blog, i don't miss those comments at all. >> we thought they were reducing the reputation rather than increasing it. you can increase your number of hits on a website by allowing a bunch of people -- because they will come 48 times an hour to see if anybody responded their comments and respond angrily to the idiot. so you can have a conversation, but it's not a good conversation. i wish that we -- i hope websites can move forward. there are websites being developed like elevating comments as good and bad. i would like for us to be a
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place where people can talk about their supreme court. it matters. if the justices decide a case about obamacare or same-sex marriage, they're amending the constitution. they're interpreting it to come up with an incredibly important result. it matters hugely. it matters to each of us. we ought to be more active all of us in participating and talking about it. that's something we have failed to do. it's a challenge for us. >> janet murray, let's talk a little bit about blogs in general, blogs aren't journalism. yet they've played an enormously important role in rethinking our assumptions in society about expertise, who gets to speak, what conversations can be held. what access the audience should or could have. why is it significant to have
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blogs like scotusblog? what does a blog do that journalism can't do? >> very interesting that you make that distinction and i was touched by the fact that amy took the award in that context. i think we are living in the age of media evolution. i think what david said about honoring scotus blog being a significant moment for media, i think it's important. but i don't think it's about the form of a blog. i think it's about the way that having all of the affordances of digital media allows you to do this radical change of thinking, what is at the core of any
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profession. so the fact -- so it's a big -- it's particularly big in something like the -- i'm listening and realizing. it's the icon of print culture. that we all live in the social orders that are formed by print culture, but nothing substantiates that more than the law and the supreme court with the literally closed indicates. so they want to keep tuned to the pretelevision era. and journalism is also tied to print culture. so we think -- people are saying it isn't journalism because it's a blog. those two things are not -- they're not of the
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same kind of generalization. journalism is a human practice that is separate from the medium in which it is inscribed, and the radical moment that we have on the new media technology comes into our hands with no medium of representation does not happen that often in human history, is that we can rethink these core activities in a wider space of expressiveness. so all of a sudden, reporting on the supreme court, whether you're a practitioner, whether you're a fan boy, whether you're just a deeply knowledgeable and articulate person, that's something that is mystifying, and wants to stay mystified and that people make their living by
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keeping it mystified and keeping that gate closed. the opportunity is it can be practiced in a much wider space. being authoritative, being a complete, being comprehensive. that is journalism. the opportunity is it can be practiced in a much wider space. so the significance of so the significance of the blog is that it got things started. that there was i think of this as a domestication event, ok, it's free. but anybody who can write can use it, technically available. transparent enough that you don't have to learn too many codes to do it. then a pent-up desire to say what's happening, of course it takes that form.
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>> you sound like tom wolf who says we're all journalists. tom got this. this is worth our attention. the platform is it will allow for the participation in a way that broadcast news does not. tom, you found that's a liability, but yet a tremendous hunger on the part of the audience to participate in the conversation. so is it an either/or question or is there a way that blogs can serve as the forum for those who do want to participate in the conversation? >> anybody can start their own blog. we have it in the effect, in a micro blogging factor twitter. the number of people who tweet
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out about the supreme court is roughly about one every three seconds. so there is a national conversation going on. one of the things is that people frequently think we're the twitter feed of the supreme court. they get very upset with us when the court does things like invalidate part of the voting rights act. there's a whole internet meeting that's wonderful -- if we i do think that the development of technology and the low cost of distribution mean that if you have something to say, you have a vehicle to say it. the question is, do you have something to say? >> do you have something intelligible to say that people can respect. recognize, for example, only half of percent of what's written on the blog is written
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by me. we're a platform as you mentioned a huge number of law professors will write for us. our distribution now is something on the order of a daily basis, 50 times the annual distribution of the harvard law review, right? so we're a way for the people to push out their thoughts for law professors, for people involved practice in a way they never could. the questions -- the marketplace of ideas actually works. people come to the blog. if what they read is stupid, they won't come back. so every day, like "the new york times" built up a reputation, tony, pete in nbc news built up reputations, what we are able to do is to provide a low-cost platform, and journalism is a piece of information that can be translapted to ones and zeros. people can write and do videos. the university is streaming this. the ability to push information
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out and for other people to consume and then respond through twitter, through their own blogs is very high. the one advantage scotusblog probably has is a first mover advantage. that is we've entered the space, we've made the materials available to you. and the real question is who will pay to create a competitor to scotusblog. if you want to create another one, it would cost millions of dollars to do. you would have to have a specific set of personnel. i have a set of fan boys interested in writing about the supreme court and knew about it. so i do think that the future of writing about the supreme court includes contributions of traditional classical journalism and its evolution.
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places like scotusblog. then people just talking through sites like twitter. and if you have something to say, your tweets will be noticed, your personal blogs will be noticed. your voice would be heard, i think. >> professor, before we find ourselves too enamored by the technology and swept away by the digital fascination, one point has to be made here for the sake of old-fashioned journalism. that is the essence of the blogs reporting on what just happened at the supreme court is executed by either lyle, who is a trained journalist and can do this because he's been doing it so long -- he can sit through an oral argument and get a sense of how the court is going to decide a case because he's done it so many times before, he knows that if justice scalia asks a certain question, that's because he's defending a similar case, a decision that he wrote 14 years ago, that he has a stake in. he has that institutional knowledge. that's why people turn to tony morrow's scotus insider because they have this -- they bring a
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lot to the table when they write about what they just saw. so they're experienced people who understand the institution and have been through -- this is not their first rodeo. institutd have been through -- this is not their first rodeo. when tom and amy right about the law or when people in there for right about the law, they are trained lawyers. a point to say that you are not going to learn about supreme court decisions from twitter, usually. what does twitter add to journalism? it is not about the medium. i was right. >> you have raised your hand, but what you have to say is of
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probably very little significance. in front ofng out ourselves. we had one million people on the blog. for the health care decision, 100 30,000 twitter followers. how many people watch the nbc nightly news? billions. successful.d [laughter] >> that is the very peak. ten million. we can't run away with ourselves. when pete reported for the nbc nightly news on that evening, in order of magnitude of people saw more than on the blog. it is an interesting change. it is an important development. use -- lose sight of the way that people generally consume news in the united
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states is going to be through ete and through john stuart -- jon stewart. >> my students don't own television sets. >> they're doomed, frankly. when the court issued its health decision, we were so excited that we had a and the court was issuing orders. you can see when the administrative blog -- we had 200. it kept us humble. i agree that digital media have made it possible to receive news in new ways. there is a lot to be said here. one of the reasons for the success of the scotusblog is not just because it is digital and
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on your computer, it is what has been put into it that we lose sight of. we would like to take questions, and there is a microphone or you can be prepared. we will ask one more follow-up question. it is not really an either or. if the conversation is steered and said that the blog is the doom of legacy media and broadcast, that is a misconception. what is great about the blog is that this offers things that the older platform couldn't do because of time and space issues. that is a great contribution, again, to our knowledge of an institution that is so important and that we know so little of. >> this is a question for tom
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and for amy. you do so much work and we gather all that information. do you feel like you are credited as people that use you as a source? >> i think that we are credited. we have an unbelievable kindness shown to us by other reporters who have said that today is just one example among many. as pete said, you can see citations to the blog and new york times and lots of other places. the relationship between scotus blog and the press is evolving. bigger and taken on a role more of a competitor. particularly in an economically challenging time, particularly because we do have bloomberg as
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a sponsor. where the arkra of blogging has been as follows. you started the website and everybody thought you were crazy. we were not really worthy of respect. it is remarkable now that if you have something with blog at the end of the name, a can be a sign of credibility. the press has been very willing and very kind about crediting the blog. the relationship is changing because reuters and ap and bloomberg and american lawyer media are competing for advertising dollars. journalists apply extremely high ethical standards in terms of crediting us. that believeple there is copycat coverage that isn't credited. i think that is probably not so manyhere are only
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ways to report supreme court decisions. sometimes you can say the health care law was upheld or struck down. generally speaking, there is only one answer. our careers and the success of the blog are largely attributable to the traditional press corps, to be perfectly honest. put uste is so kind to on television and tony has written articles about us, that is really how people have found us. we have nothing but the highest level of gratitude for how we have been treated. >> you brought up the business model earlier on. that?you talk about
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how much money they have put in. doing stuff exclusively for bloomberg, the terminal users. i think this is another good illustration of a question that you can extrapolate from. the cost of distribution is nearly zero. site, weding a mobile have to ramp up for the health care decision. three years ago, before the sponsorship deal, it was a quarter million dollars a year. we are paying that out-of-pocket . spent $500,000 a year, which is real money for sure. it is nothing like the amount of money a major news organization spends on covering a significant area that interests the public.
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the question of the business model is a fascinating one. there is no way that our traffic could sustain what it is that we burned through. there are not enough eyeballs. we don't have 100 million unique users. -- use a straight advertising model, the level that we have a reporter -- >> in terms of just eyeballs. you have a very desirable focus that has value in and of itself. to advertise cars or something like that, there are a particular subset of people who are reading the blog that various people have found to be valuable. things like peabody and the like, we have a kind of halo where people appreciate
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being associated with us. is an exclusive sponsor and things with lawyers, we will use the blog. relationship with them in which we write exclusive users andr their their paid subscribers. have made a judgment that advertising bloomberg law has economic value for them and they think it is a social good. bloomberg made a decision that this was something good for the country. is part of their calculus. this is another very unusual thing about a sponsor. they give money and ask nothing of us.
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that is a remarkable relationship to have. we try to highlight what it is they do occasionally. but they just decided to finance this operation. the precise numbers or something i wouldn't want to disclose, but of the blog'scost existence. that it istand exclusively sponsored by them. what other people are going to be able to do where media challenges.ces real people are giving away information for free. what are other journalistic institutions going to do in
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terms of financing their operations? we create a problem rather than solving a problem. we inspire people to do things as we try to as well. you are the new york times, a local paper, nbc, or american lawyer media, that is a real puzzle. we have to recognize the possibility that we might celebrate its existence, but it is an economic matter. it may cause more problems than it solves. blog might contribute some content, but it is the body that really informs the country. and what journalism is going to do to have an economic model is something that the people in
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this room think about that. >> comment about credibility is very important. real-time competitors like , but cnn and fox and msnbc, foxaverage viewer is 67 for . 64 and 65 even for cnn and nbc. taken, i haveell a natural tendency as the demographics suggest. jeff jones watching the major rulings on civil liberties, they
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are on scotus blog and not on other networks. i think there is something fundamental in the relationship of different generations to digital media that is going to play out here. go displays an interesting role because it is so good and precisely because of the peabody's. we are well aware of these trends. if you were on the msnbc website, you would see the scotus blog provide coverage of the decision. we have a lot of cooperative relationships like that. last year in the health care decision, they put a camera on it. whereis this adaptation it doesn't have to be us or them.
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the distribution that nbc news because we are not trying. we don't have a pay wall. we are not trying to make money on an eyeball basis. we know that they reach a lot of people. something, to amy's point, people will learn about you if you have something substantive to say and you will get exposure through media that really catches a lot of people. they ought to realize that if they are good at one particular topic, their opportunity to reach a huge audience is not limited to the number of people that find you through google but -- in fact, rigidly through principally through the legacy traditional media that has so many eyeballs.
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>> these join me in thanking our -- [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> later this week, lawmakers will try to modify the financial regulations law. the change would exempt certain private equity fund advisors from the securities and exchange commission. the houses coming live at 5:00 eastern on c-span. ean-francois cope will talk about a recent nuclear deal with iran on c-span2.
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former u.s. trade representative the differences between us and the european union. >> only people alive today have ever done it. the era of cicero, the late roman republic. if you have one, it goes faster. messengers running to and fro. they all spoke to each other. there are cuts throughout history, martin luther using a pamphlet. payne in his pamphlet common sense.
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the american and the french revolution. >> the first 2000 years of social media. >> august 1974, vice president ford was sworn in as president of the united states. this is the dress that mrs. ford was wearing at the swearing-in ceremony. president ford encouraged her, saying we can do this. she resolves if i am going to have to do this, i will have fun doing it. had a stateys, she dinner to entertain the king of jordan. she hit the ground running. >> live on c-span and c-span three, also on c-span radio and c-span.org.
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>> at the white house today, president obama announced more investments for the national institute of health to combat aids. marking global aids day, the president was joined i secretary of state john kerry. >> hello. thank you. thank you everybody. thank you. everybody, please have a seat. thank you for your outstanding leadership. of the office of national aids policy. thank you for being here. this is a pretty distinguished crowd. it is wonderful to be here. i should say, actually, welcome back. many of you joined us before. we have marked new milestones in our fight against hiv and aids. i am honored that you could be here to commemorate world aids day, which was yesterday. this is a time for remembering friends and loved ones that we
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have lost. celebrating the extraordinary progress thanks to some people in this room that we have been able to make. most importantly, recommitting ourselves to the vision that we share. which is, achieving an aids free generation. i especially want to welcome ministers from our partner countries. members of my administration, including secretary sebelius and secretary john kerry, congresswoman barbara lee, mark from the global fund to fight aids, and we also have francis collins from the national institute of health. michelle from you and aids. debra, who is carrying on the great work as our acting global aids coordinator. thank you all for joining us today. every year, this is a moment to reflect on how far we have come.
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those of you who lived through the aids epidemic know all too well the fear and the stigma and how hard people had to fight to be seen or heard. or to be treated with faith -- basic compassion. you remember how little we knew about how to prevent aids or how to treat it. what we did know was the devastation that it inflicted. striking down vibrant men and women in the prime of their lives. spreading from city to city and country to country seemingly overnight. today, that picture has transformed. thanks to the courage and love of so many of you in this room and around the world. awareness has soared. research has surged. prevention, treatment, and care are now saving millions of lives. in some of the poorest countries as well. for many, with testing and ask
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us to the right treatment, the disease that was once a death sentence now comes with a good chance of a healthy and productive life. that is an extraordinary achievement. as president, i have told you that you will have a partner in me. if the united states wanted to be the global leader of combating this disease, we needed to act like it. by doing our part and leading the world. that is what we have done, in partnership with so many of you. we have created the first hiv aids strategy. every person should get access to life extending care, regardless of age, gender, race, or ethnicity. we have continued to support the ryan white care act. we have listed the entry ban so that people with hiv are no longer barred from the united
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states. that led to the aids conference being held here last year for the very first time in over 20 years. this summer, i issued an executive order to boost our federal efforts to prevent and treat hiv. last month, i signed the organ policy equity act to finally allow research into organ donations between people with hiv. this was achieved with bipartisan support. thanks to the affordable care act, millions of americans will be able to be tested free of charge. the uninsured will know hot access to affordable care coverage. no american will be denied health insurance because of their hiv status. on world aids day, i announced an additional $35 million for the drug assistance program, which will help to pay for life- saving medications. at one time, the need was so great that over 900,000 people
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were on the waitlist. we've got to get those numbers down. we have cleared that waitlist. we are down to zero. [applause] so we are making progress. but we are all here today because we know how much work remains to be done. here in the united states, we need to focus on investments to communities that are still being hit hardest, including gay and bisexual men, african americans, and latinos. we need to keep up the fight in the cities. this includes washington, d.c., which has reduced infections by nearly half. we will continue to pursue scientific breakthroughs. i am pleased to announce a new initiative for an hiv sure. we will redirect $100 million into this project.
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because the united states should be at the forefront of these discoveries as to how to put it hiv into remission. better yet, eliminated up lately. -- eliminate it complete lee. of course, this extends beyond our borders. we have helped millions around the world receive lifesaving treatment. we have not just sustained efforts, we have expanded them. we are reaching and serving even more people, especially mothers and children. earlier this year, we reached a milestone. the one millionth baby born without hiv. that, alongside -- [applause] that, alongside the rapid decline in new hiv infections and deaths from aids in sub- saharan africa. on my visit to africa this year,
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i visited a clinic run by bishop desmond tutu. i have the honor to spend time with some of their extraordinary young patients. every day, they are doing extraordinary work for it when you visit this facility, you cannot help but be inspired by what they do. each and every day. in part, thanks to the support of the united states of america. they're saving lives and they are changing the way that their country and the world approaches this disease. that is work that we have to continue to advance. on world aids day two years ago, i said that we need to increase the number of mothers that we reach to prevent their children from becoming infected. we need to help 6 million people by 2013. today, i am proud to announce that we have not only reached our goals, we have exceeded our target. we have helped 7 million people receive lifesaving treatment.
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[applause] which is why, after i leave here today, i will be proud to sign the stewardship and oversight act to keep this going strong. [applause] count on the legislators to applaud the legislator. looking ahead, it is time for the world to come together to set new goals. we're working hard to get a permanent leader in place. once we do, one of our first items will be to convene an -- a meeting early next year. our partners worldwide can sit around one table and develop joint hiv prevention and treatment goals for the countries where we do business. we will hold each other accountable and continue to work to turn the tide of this
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epidemic together. that includes keeping up our support for the global fight. success speaks for itself. we're hoping over 6 million people in over 140 countries receive antiretrovirals therapy. it is time to contribute to the fund. up to $5 billion total from the united states. the united kingdom has made a similar promise. [applause] so, today, i want to urge all of those who are attending the replenishment meetings to take up this commitment. do not leave our money on the table.
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it has been inspiring to see the country most affected by this disease has fast will he increased their contributions. that should inspire all of us to give more and do more so we can save more lives. after all, none of the progress that we have made could have been achieved by a single government or foundation. the result of countless people moving -- including some in if you, working together. philanthropies, universities, media, civil society, activists more than anything, i think it is due to the courageous people living with hiv who share their stories. you let your dignity be recognized in the fight to spare others from this disease. we cannot change the past or undo their wretched pain. what we can do and what we have to do is to chart a different future, and guided by our love for those we could not save.
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that allows us to do everything that we can, everything in our power to save those that we can. that is my commitment to u.s. president. the united states of america will remain a global leader in the fight against aids. we will stand with you until we reach the data we know is possible, when all men and women can prevent themselves from infection. a day when all women and men with hiv have access to treatments to save their lives. the day when there are no babies born with hiv or aids. when we achieve what was once hard to imagine, which is an aids free generation. that is the world i want for my daughters. that is what we all want for our families. if we keep focused and honor the memory of those that we have lost, if we summon the same courage that they displayed and insist on what ever it takes or
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however long it takes -- i believe that we will win this fight. i am confident that we will do so together. thank you very much for your extraordinary efforts. i appreciate it. [applause] thank you. good work. [applause] >> thank you everybody. i am proud to be a friend and colleague. i am gail smith. the president's leadership extends all across his administration. i see across this room leaders from across our government. people who work every day to win this fight. it is my pleasure to now introduce one of them, who has been a champion in this fight. he remains a leader for us
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today. secretary of state, john kerry. [applause] >> gail, thank you very much. thank you for your tremendous leadership and for your cooperation in this effort. thank you to all of our distinguished colleagues in the obama administration. all of you, the president named, we are grateful to you. i think -- i think the president for convening this remarkable group of leaders and activists on this challenging, monumental issue. the president's commitment and his follow through and his
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fundamental belief in the possibility of an aids free generation -- and the hard work of so many of you, have all combined to put that extraordinary goal with in our grasp. amazing as that may seem. i want to thank my colleagues, secretary kathleen sebelius for her tremendous leadership. also, hours distinguished leader of a id who is on the lines to make sure that this gets implemented. and to all of you, who are so critical to bring us to where we are. i would like to remark that hiv is a work of hhs -- it has set the gold standard for the world. i am very proud of it.
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also, deborah and julia from the state department are here. they are leading our efforts to implement the blueprint and writing a brand-new chapter in the president's fight against aids. i also want to say a special thank you to bill gates. bill and i are -- we share a deep commitment to try to improve the lives of others. he is giving away billions of dollars and i am giving shorter speeches. it is about the match. there are so many really remarkable aids warriors assembled here. scientist and public servants, researchers and advocates. republicans and democrats. all of whom who have put ideology, partisanship, party, even nationstate aside.
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in the interest of trying to embrace a much larger, more important vision. a more global vision. by reaching across disciplines and different faiths, and reaching across the aisle and across world simultaneously, everybody has tapped into what we think are the deepest values of our country. they are shared by so many other countries and people around the world. one thing that has stood out on this issue from my point of view i sat where barbara lee is. we were in the same endeavor. whether it was barbara lee and bill frist or jesse helms and myself -- we came to the table to pass this. no matter how deep the
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differences were, we all managed to be able to find a way to unite us. in our collective refusal to allow aids to ravage yet another generation. we showed a deeper determination to meet our global responsibilities. that is what is happening here. this is not a small deal. i want to complement congress for continuing the tradition and passing the stewardship and oversight act, which the president just talked about.
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when you really consider how we bridged those differences and the distance that we have traveled -- this journey is even now much more remarkable. i can really remember, back in 1991, when bill frist and i joined together as chairs -- to study hiv and aids. very little is known about. i remember the fear. literally. in politics, it was a tricky thing to talk about publicly. as little as 10 years ago, aids was a death sentence for many. experts warned that in parts of the world, we had reached the point of no return. what i remember most and what i have been privileged to be a part of every step of the way is how everybody came together to push back against that pessimism. when the leaders in this room and the entire community, entire countries which are ravaged by aids -- when you looked out and saw this challenge, you did not see someone else's crisis.
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you saw our shared humanity and our shared responsibility. now, with this world aids day yesterday and this convening here today with the conference that will take place tonight and borrow, we are really renewing that commitment. it is appropriate, obviously, as we do so, to think about all of those who have been lost. who were too late. we were too late in order to save them. i can remember a lot of friends, many members and supporters of mine in the gay community, who were going to funeral after funeral after funeral. there was a massive pessimism within the community and the community and a sense that this was overwhelming. it is clear that we are now turning very important corner. it is not one. there is major challenge ahead. it will require major commitment in order to complete the task, but to the memory that we want to honor for all those for whom
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it was too late. in sub-saharan africa, hiv infections are down by nearly 40% since 2001. aids-related mortality has declined by nearly one third since the peak in 2005. globally, new infections among children have been cut in half in a decade. access to life-saving hiv treatment has increased close to 40 fold. i am pleased to note that we have achieved much of this because president obama was determined to set a higher standard. he sort of glossed over it in his own comments. that was a very significant commitment. on world aids day two years ago, he challenged us to reach 6 million more people with life- saving treatment. to provide 1.5 alien hiv positive pregnant women with
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treatment for their own health, and to prevent -- to provide men with services for hiv prevention. these targets have pushed us to go further. to be more innovative, to forge new partnerships, including with many in this room. as a result, you all are now reaching more people and more lives are being saved than ever before. now, to meet the challenge of the second decade, we will emphasize this. we have to transform america's role. we made no clearer example of the transformation that we need to realize that south africa, rwanda, and nvidia -- namibia, all you have to do is look at the country health partnerships.
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these are a model for how they are transitioning to providing direct aid and delivering support for locally run and self-sustaining efforts. this is a vital effort. we have global commitments that should give greater can't finance -- confidence to this mission. i am encouraged by the increased investments from the united kingdom, denmark, norway, sweden, and canada, as well as germany and france. all of them are extending their high levels of commitment as the president just said. do not leave our money on the table. if everybody steps up, we will do even more and meet this challenge. it is a great honor to host the
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global fund conference in washington this week. as i speak this evening, it is safe to say that we really are chartering a new writing -- writing a new chapter. when it comes to the global fund, there are lessons to be learned. the way that we have leveraged our commitments inspires greater contributions from other nations. we have shown, i think, strategic leadership. i might add, it is fair to say that that engagement, which the president touched on, is frankly inspiring a truly global effort. we're proud that it is doing so. as we continue to confront the global challenge of aids, we are literally in a position sold on a great american legacy. we are, as you all know, probably the nation that defeated the axis powers. then, we turned around and invested billions of dollars into their recovery. that has made all of the difference to a powerhouse like germany and an ally like japan and to europe itself.
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we're the nation that faced down the soviet union with the force of our ideals. without resorting to the force of arms. now, no exaggeration. and our own time, in this generation, and our fight against aids, yes, in a different way, but no less important -- we are able to engage in an initiative that can help to define our nation and the golden spirit. if we continue to make the right choices, our work will provide for even greater possibilities. i want you to think about this. today, 11 of our 15 biggest trading partners -- as recently as 15 years ago -- were receiving aid from the united states of america. the truth is, one day, that
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permits us to hope that our children and grandchildren can say the same thing about our partners today. with seven of the 10 fastest- growing economies in the world in sub-saharan africa, the opportunities are obviously enormous. rather than view our relationship with africa is defined by the obstacles that we ace, we literally are able to define them by the opportunities that we can seize together. and every generation, we are called on to do exceptional things against seemingly insurmountable odds. we know that working to achieve an aids free generation will continue to pose an incredible test. with our continued commitment, i am certain that we can all look forward to not only passing that test, but to working with each other to provide a new definition of the character of our nation and the character of
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our noble spirit. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, secretary kerry for those comments and your ongoing leadership. our next speaker has given the domestic aids community her unwavering support. from implementation of the affordable care act to implementation of the national hiv aids strategy, her department has led efforts to improve the lives of all people affected by hiv. please welcome the secretary of health and human services, kathleen sebelius. [applause] >> good afternoon. it is my great clays are to spend -- pleasure to spend time with you today as we mark another world aids day.
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i want to start by inking my colleague, secretary of state john kerry, for not only his leadership during his years in the senate, but his continuing focus on these issues that are so meaningful to the health and prosperity of people around the world. he has done a terrific job and is a wonderful partner. as he said, the effort is really a partnership. we are pleased to join our partners under the umbrella of the state department with the leadership of the acting global aids coordinator. they're doing a terrific job. also, providing a variety of hhs assets through dr. frieden and the terrific work of cdc and
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countries around the world, who are delivering this life-saving care. it is an amazing effort underway. we also have a number of critical health leaders here. dr. howard co and others who are helping to lead be domestic initiative. dr. debra from -- who is part of the effort. we have our global health office. we will mention a bit about them. and credible research efforts are underway. i appreciate not only bill gates'leadership on the philanthropic front, but i appreciate his willingness to come and spend some time today with our cutting-edge scientists and researchers at nah. -- nih.
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he gave some inspirational words to those leaders. grant colfax has done an unbelievable job. he is coordinating this amazing effort. it really is a uniquely american effort where people are not fighting over turf. we're at the table together, locking arms and trying to figure out how we can go forward together. to those of you in the room today, who are here on the frontlines lines of this effort, not only in the united dates, but around the world, let me just start by saying they queue. thank you for the work that you have been doing for decades. thank you for the research and the painstaking efforts. thank you for the resiliency in the face of the losses that have been so appropriately described. a lot of times you wanted to just give up. that has not happened. the rededication is palpable.
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thank you for being here and for being willing to fight on. we are all here because we really do share president obama is believed that an aids free generation is within our reach. we have to continue to work to gather to make it happen. clearly, this president has made these issues a priority. that is why we are here today. together, with your health, we share that goal. we're decreasing the number of americans who have become affected by hiv. we are increasing access to care and improving the health and outcome for people living with hiv. reducing hiv related disparity and certainly, you have heard a lot about contributing to global efforts to respond to aids. moving forward, we need to keep in mind the dream of finding a cure and ending the epidemic. we are here a few days after
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thanksgiving and, clearly, there is a lot to be thankful for in terms of the project -- progress that we have made together. the lives that we are saving and the advancements that we have made. cutting the waiting list in the united states for the aids drug assistance program from 9000 to zero in just two years is a big step forward. barbara lee, i have to recognize your tenacious leadership. those who have not personally tangled with barbara lee, let me just tell you that it is a formidable advocate that leads this effort in the united states congress. we applaud those efforts. reducing that waiting list 20 is a huge step. clearly, we have come a long way. when congress first passed a bill, funding the aids research and treatment, back in 1983, there was a time not long ago
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that getting an hiv diagnosis was a death sentence. today, hiv as a manageable medical condition. the science gives us great reason for optimism and hope. there are currently more than already safe and effective antiretrovirals drugs and combinations. researchers continue to develop new treatments. what is more, we're making progress to new medications and regimens that are longer lasting and simpler to use. far fewer side effects. those regimens reduce the amount of hiv in the body. that helps people living with hiv to stay healthy and live longer. we also know from the nih funding research, hiv transmission is drastically reduced when the amount of hiv virus in an affected person is reduced to undetectable levels. meanwhile, our partner agency,
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the fda, has approved new, rapid diagnostic test which can be used in a variety of settings to identify hiv in an infected individual. it might not be tested in a traditional health care setting. as we speak, nih grantees and scientists are exploring ways to treat hiv infections by administering anti-hiv antibodies. they have begun early-stage testing of an antibody that was effective in protecting human cells against more than any in 90% of the known hiv trait -- strains. last, but certainly not least, we have made significant progress last year. we understand how antibodies respond and how they evolve together with the virus in the body of an infected person. these advances have brought us closer than ever to finally getting an infected vaccine and one big step closer to finding a
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cure. the announcement that the president just made, about increasing funding for research by $100 million will allow us to further the important work that is being led by dr. jack and dr. anthony an incredible team at nah led by dr. francis collins. thank you all for what you're doing. ultimately, one of the most important things that we can do to combat this epidemic is to raise awareness. as we work to advance the research, we are also supporting nationally and hiv awareness campaign. we're sharing research with community organizations and health departments across the country. last week's signing by the president of the bipartisan hope that this another step in the right direction. we're making sure that our federal policies are aligned with the most recent scientific understanding of hiv.
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information about all of these things is available at hiv -- at aids.gov. we have a lot of work to be thankful for. we have a lot of work to do. the challenge that we face is substantial. 35 million people in the world are living with hiv aids. in 2012 alone, more than 2 million hiv infections and 1.6 million aids-related deaths were reported across the globe. here in the u.s., more than one million of our neighbors and friends are infected. millions more are up acted by the lost loved ones. i want to share a few brief comments on the strategy, which the president launched three years ago. because of this effort, with your help, we are doing more than ever to fight hiv. to deliver high-quality care to those with hiv and to keep them engaged in the care and improve
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the outcomes of a cam of longer, healthier, and more productive lives. we have also been able to enhance and streamline the coordination of our own federal efforts. as a result, frontline providers can concentrate on what matters most. providing high-quality hiv convention and services. with your help, we will help more of our fellow americans. one of the ways that we are working to improve the quality of life and americans living with hiv is to work with states to increase access to home and community-based care. more people living with an hiv infection can live in their own homes and their own neighborhoods in their own communities. with all the progress that we have made, it is still the case that here in the united states, one in six people living with hiv is on -- is undiagnosed. only one in four people living
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with hiv in the united states is able to achieve control over their own infections through medications. that is necessary for their own health and a critical strategy for preventing further transmission to partners. that is why, this july, the president issued in executive order watching the care initiative. the goal is to accelerate all of our federal efforts to help people get tested, get links to care, stay in care, and get treated for hiv. today, we released a report with the first set of recommendations. my assistant secretary of health has been working in close partnership with dr. grant colfax here at the white house. the doctors cochaired the group and i want to thank them and members of the group, including cdc and nih, and our partners at the department of justice, for
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all of their across the government hard work. it is another example of the federal government raking down silos and working together to implement a national hiv strategy. we are totally committed to implementing the recommendation. now, as i close , i want to share with you a few ways that the affordable care act is contributing to fighting this effort. as you may know, u.s. presented services task force recommended that clinicians screen for hiv infection in adolescents and adults ages 15-65. and all pregnant women in the u.s. are screened for hiv. the new health care law makes that more possible by requiring all private health care plans to cover hiv testing and other preventive services at no out-
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of-pocket cost of the patient. it is illegal for insurance companies to deny children coverage because they have hiv. in january, no adults will be denied coverage again. the law makes it illegal for insurance companies to resend someone's coverage when they get sick because they made a mistake on their paperwork or to put a cap on a dollar amount they are willing to cover for an hiv patient over their lifetime. annual dollar limits will be against the law as well. in most health-care settings, it will finally be illegal to discriminate against someone because of their gender identity. to withhold care from someone when they need it most because of their gender expression. the new health insurance marketplace is an important tool to fight against hiv aids. we are working to make sure that site works well for the vast
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majority of americans. we know that medicaid expansion, part of the effort under the health reform law is another critically important tool. lower income americans, medicaid expansion is the difference between life and death. states in thee 25 district of columbia deciding to expand the medicaid program to millions more lower income americans. up the50 states take offer for expansion paid for by the federal government, nearly 80% of the over 40 million uninsured americans would be eligible for new coverage either through the marketplace with financial assistance through medicaid or through chip. it would be a huge step forward to making sure people have adequate health care. with your help, we have made a tremendous amount of progress.
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we have much to be thankful for but there is more work to be done. all of you are in this room today because you refuse to give up. the fight to end this epidemic is a fight we can win. hope,e many reasons for and many of those reasons are sitting in this room today. all very much. working together, we can achieve the goal of an aids free generation. thank you. [applause] >> c-span. we bring public affairs against him washington directly to you. putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings and conferences. and gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house as a public service. 34 years ago and funded by your local cable or satellite provider.
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now you can watch us in hd. in august of 1974, vice assident ford was sworn in president of the united states. this is the dress mrs. ford was president ford encouraged her. she resulted if she was going to do this she was going to have fun doing it. the fun for her started almost immediately within 10 days. she had a state dinner to entertain the king of jordan. she hit the ground running. first lady betty ford tonight at 9:00 eastern. >> the house is coming in now for legislative work after a weeklong the thanks giving week -- recess.
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they will discuss three bills including one that will extend the ban. week, thelater this attempt to change the dodd frank relation laws -- regulation laws. some of our live coverage appening later on tonight, french leader will talk about his role his country is having an world affairs. p.m.at 6:30 a former u.s. trade representative kirk discusses the prospect of the free trade agreement between the u.s. and the european union. that is live on c-span3.
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as we wait for the house to come in to debate a few bills, a part of the white house briefing from today on chinese military policy. >> of united states remains deeply concerned that china announced the establishment of an east china sea air defense at innovation -- identification zone. this appears to be provocative attempt to change the status quo in east.
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>> we go live to the house. --the republic of korea votes on postpone questions will be taken later. for what purpose of the gentlemen of texas seek recognition? --i moved to pass the bill the space launch extension act. >> the title of the bill -- >> a bill to extend the application of certain space launch liability provisions through 2014. >> pursuant to the rule, the government -- the gentlemen from texas and the gentlewoman from texas will be controlled 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. >> we have five adjustment of days to revise or extend the remarks into include material on hr-3527.
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>> the gentleman is recognized. >> the bill we consider today provides the stability for nations provider so they can remain competitive in the international market. the bill extends the existing system that requires commercial launch providers to purchase insurance up to the maximum probable loss. it provides that the government will compensate up to $1.5 billion in any amount above that is the responsibility of the original commercial launch provider. -- two of the witnesses who testified to deal with this law on a regular basis. mr. stewart, president of the mojave air and space port is developing things that could revolutionize space.
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he told the subcommittee these laws allow companies to continue to innovate and grow. another witness, president of the satellite industry association, represents companies that add billions of dollars to the u.s. economy. she testified that the system's in heration is essential association strongly recommends that they be renewed before it expires. the committee received a letter signed by digitalglobe and virgin galactic and lockheed that amt 2 -- advocated the renewal the system to keep the u.s. competitive in the global market. separatemmittee held a hearing and heard from the federal aviation administration, the government accountability office, -- at this hearing,
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frank slazer summed up his trade -- many forstating launch providers competing against u.s. companies already benefit from generous identification roles. we cannot be allowed to force away highly skilled technical jobs to foreign countries. nonrenewal could impede new -- new u.s. interests of the commercial launch market and discourages future launch innovation and investment. without a little playing field, new u.s. interests could find it highly undesirable to begin their good -- the business ventures in the united states. the faa has been in place for over 20 years. thankfully, the provisions have never been triggered by a serious accident.
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the stability of provides allows the u.s. to remain competitive in the global market and push the boundaries of space technology. the bill before us what extent it by one more year with the hope that we could address a longer-term legislative solution. i would've preferred a longer extension. the nasa act that was passed last summer extended it for five years. we now have a bipartisan bill before us against third party liability claims. this provision expires on december 31, so time is short. this bill buys us time to work on a long-term extension as part of the commercial space act renewal that we will take up next year. i urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the chair recognizes the
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gentlewoman from from texas. ms. johnson: i rise today to speak in support of h.r. 3547, a bill to the application of certain space launch liability provisions through 2014. first established by congress as part of the commercial space launch act amendments of 1988, the commercial space transportation risk sharing liability and insurance regime has been extended seven times. it expires on december 31 of this year. it's important for congress to act now so there is sufficient time for this legislation to make its way to the president's desk before the current authority expires. the liability and insurance regime that would be extended by this legislation is three-tiered. and in the first tier, license and commercial launch providers
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are required to purchase third-party liability insurance to compensate for possible losses from the third-party claims by uninvolved public. up to the maximum probable loss level determined by the federal aviation agency administration. as part of this licensing process or a maximum level of $500 million. in the second tier, the claims above those maximum probable losses and the u.s. government may pay successful liability claims up to $1.5 billion. in 1989 dollars are about $2.8 billion in today's dollars, subject to the funds being appropriated by congress for that purpose. in the third tier, successful claims for the $2.8 billion, they assume liability for payment. it should be noted that the u.s.
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government has not appropriated a single dollar to pay for third-party claims in the two-decade history. the existence of this liability risk-sharing regime has help enable the development and sustainment of a commercial space launch industry in the united states including the emergence of several new companies in recent years. in addition, the regime has allowed u.s. companies to remain competitive with the international counterparts. almost all of those governments provide similar or more generous risk sharing liability to regimes to that of the u.s. the commercial space transportation liability and insurance regime has worked, has not cost the american taxpayer a single dollar in claims and has strengthened u.s. competitiveness in commercial space launch. and this is not a blank check. since any potential payment for
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claims would be subject to prior congressional appropriation. the bill before us today extends the risk-sharing regime for a period of one year. while that is less than some in the industry would like, that is because much has changed since the risk-sharing liability and indemnification regime was established in 1988 and the commercial space launch industry continues to evolve over time. commercial providers are delivering spacecraft to orbit in commercial resupply services to the international space station and companies are working hard toward providing commercial human space flight. i'm excited about the entrepreneurial spirit. many of these new companies exhibit and i want them to succeed. but i also want to ensure that the nation's commercial space transportation legislation reflects the change in industry
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and protects the american public. the commercial space industry has been evolving in ways that were not envisioned when the risk regime was first accomplished and we need to re-evaluate if changes are needed through this decades'-old law. it provides the congress to conduct necessary hearings, perform due diligence and enable the enactment of the comprehensive update of commercial space legislation. mr. speaker, in closing, i would like to thank the chairman of smith. ittee, mr. and the subcommittee's chairman and ranking member. this is a good bipartisan bill. and i urge members to support it. thank you. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from, mr.
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rohrabacher. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. rohrabacher: i rise in strong support of h.r. 3547, space launch liability indemnification extension act and i thank the chairman and ranking member for demonstrating the type of bipartisan support that we have for legitimate science and space projects here in the united states congress. people say we can't work together. well, we can keep our eyes on the stars and on the positive things. and we are working together. and this piece of legislation proves just that. it wasn't so long ago there were people who were skeptical about the commercial space industry and it is heartening to see we have gathered together to make sure that our american entrepreneurs, our space entrepreneurs are successful and that they do, indeed, launch not only rockets into space but
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launch a whole new industry and providing great jobs for the american people into space and thus benefiting all of us. that's why it is a bipartisan effort that we are talking about today. the space launch liability indemnification is important for the american launch industry which is regaining a global market share to maintain the global market expectations and, of course, it's important for to maintain standards that have been long expected of american companies. i fully support a deeper look into this issue, which this legislation provides, because i know that our indemnification structure is not just right for industry but right for the american people. it's important to note that indemnification is not a one-way with the government just protecting industry. the original policy back in 1988 was designed to protect the government as well as industry. when companies buy the insurance
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required by law, they protect the federal government against damages and against damaged claims up to the maximum probable loss. i would also note that requirements for commercial launch providers purchase and the requirements that they purchase insurance and protect the federal government against that liability, that never expires. so we should permanently extend the space launch liability indemnification and i look forward to working with the chairman and ranking member to accomplish just that as we go into the next year. and i rise in strong support and thank my colleagues for joining me in this effort to make sure we launch this whole new industry for america. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: i yield three minutes to the gentleman from california. . . .
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>> i rise in support of this act. as a proud member of the science, space and technology committee, i am encouraged to hear about the exciting and innovative ways that commercial -- that the commercial space industry is pushing the bounds of space exploration. the legislation on the floor today helps to ensure that the industry will flourish and continue to create new, high-tech jobs. mr. takano: in southern california, the hawthorne-based space-ex company employs nearly 4,000 workers and cremeanted itself as one of the premier commercial space interprileses by developing several launch vehicles and reusable spacecraft. in 2012, they successfully delivered car-go to the international space station using its dragon cap sewell. the ma halvey space port is another bright light. more than 70 companies are
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working on highly advanced aerospace design and flight test research. just two months ago, the sierra, nevada, corporation created its first flight test of the dream chaser, a winged spacecraft that could one day take astronauts to the international space station. but as commercial space companies such as these continue to develop and fest new technologies -- test new technologies, it is important for the federal government to help alleviate some of the risk involved in undertaking such projects. by providing third-party indemnification, these companies can continue to work -- can continue their work without risking their entire assets. in fact, russia, china, france and japan all offer liability protections that exceed the united states' standard. without this important protection, some companies could be forced to exit the market, costing the united states hundreds if not thousands of
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high-tech jobs. we cannot allow that to happen. i am proud to support this legislation so that american commercial space companies can continue to grow and expand the possibilities of what mankind can achieve. i urge my colleagues to support this bill and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the entlewoman from texas. ms. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield five minutes to the gentlelady from maryland, ms. edwards. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. edwards: thank you, mr. speaker. and i probably will not use all of the five minutes, but i wanted to be here today, mr. speaker, to support h.r. 3547, the space launch liability indemnification extension act of which i am an original co-sponsor. i want to thank both our chairman, the chairman of our
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subcommittee, mr. palazzo, chairman smith, and of course our ranking democrat on the committee, ms. johnson. because we would not have been able to get to this point if we hadn't been able collectively across the aisle to work on a one-year extension that would be provided for in commercial space launch act amendments of 1988. that established the government private risk-sharing regime for third-party liability and should an accident, a launch accident occur, the effects that involve the public and property on the ground, in this indemnification provision, would cover such losses. ou know, it turns out that commercial space launch capacity in the industry is really at a critical point in our nation's development of our space infrastructure. both the federal and commercial customers rely on commercial
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space launch. the industry for safe, reliable and effective service in delivering pay loads in orbit and providing related space transportation services. just recently in september of this year, a commercial space launch provider successfully lofted a car-go cap sewell into space to carry supplies to the international space station. this is what we have in mind when we talk about intergrated our commercial launch capacity with what we do already at nasa in terms of our scientific endeavors. mr. speaker, commercial space transportation services have really always been carried out in partnership with the united states government, through the use of federal launch ranges and services. for example, and through the government risk-sharing regime, for protecting the uninvolved public and property, should an accident occur. and so it seems quite fitting
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that we've reached this point today. unfortunately the reason that we're only able to do a one-year extension and can agree on that is because there are also some other things we need to figure out for the future, with respect to the involvement of the commercial industry. and it is my hope that over the course of this one year, that we will use that time wisely here in the congress to have the kind of oversight hearings that we need, to bring in the f.a.a. so that we can make sure that we're venturing in this direction, in the right kind of way, that really takes into consideration what we're doing in the 21st century. new entrants are delivering spacecraft to orbit. commercial resupply services to the international space station, and companies are working toward providing commercial human space flight on both reusable subor by tal vehicles and space flight systems. i'm excited, although i have been admittedly a skeptic, i'm
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excited about the potential of the industry and i want it to succeed. just last year in a hearing on launch indemnification before the committee's space subcommittee of which i am the ranking member, a senior official representing the aerospace industries association characterized the continuation of u.s. space launch indemnification as providing, quote, substantial upside potential to enable new market, create jobs and assure u.s. space technology leadership for the 21st century. it's easy to see how that upside is both national and local in scope. the launch capability at nearby walz air -- flight facility on the eastern shore is becoming a critical link to resupplying the international space station. commercial space companies make investments in our economy and create jobs all across the country. and specifically in my home state of maryland, companies like lock heed martin, orbital, employ thousands of people in my district alone, creating
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high-tech jobs, high-skilled jobs in the local community. a.t.k. is a leading aerospace supplier and has its main headquarters right up, not very far from here. i want to ensure that our legislation and policies regarding commercial space transportation reflect the changing industry. changes and activities that may not have been contemplated when the liability indemnification regime was first established. this one-year extension provides congress the opportunity to consider any potential changes that might be needed to ensure the continued safety of the public. and so, mr. speaker, i urge our colleagues to join us today in supporting h.r. 3547 and i thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i'm prepared to yield back the balance of my time if the gentlewoman from texas, ms. johnson, is prepared to yield back her time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. johnson: i have no further
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requests for time. so i would just urge support and yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill, h.r. 3547. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- mr. smith: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this motion will be post pobed -- postponed. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio seek
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recognition? >> mr. speaker, i move to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3588, the community fire safety act of 2013. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3588, a bill to amend the safe drinking water act, to exempt fire hydrant from the prohibition on the use of lead pipes, fittings, fixtures, solder and flux. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from ohio, mr. johnson, and the gentleman from new york, mr. tonko, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. mr. johnson: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous materials in the record on the bill. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, many members think that the suspension calendar is reserved for unimportant legislation. that is not the case today.
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it is reserved for bills that need no amendments and on which more than 2/3 of the house agrees. the community fire safety act of 2013 meets those two tests. sometimes when we budget our time, we ask ourselves, what should i work on first? the urgent or the important? h.r. 3588 is both urgent and important. it corrects a problem that first surfaced in october of this year, but which impact it's all water utilities and fire fighting units in the united states, effective next month. water utilities have made it clear that they have two choices come january 4. law to comply with federal or leave gaps in critical fire hydrant service. no one should ever face that
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choice. here's the background. on january 4, 2011, the president signed into law the reduction of lead in drinking water act. this law prohibits the manufacturing and installation of pipes, fittings and fixtures that have lead content of %. ater than .2 but it exempts specific items including tub fillers and shower valves. there is also a general exemption for pipes, fittings and fixtures where the water is not anticipated to be consumed. the effective date of the law is january 4, 2014, the beginning of next month. now, i'm told that when congress wrote this law in 2010, and the president signed it in 2011, the issue of fire hydrants never entered the conversation. nor did the e.p.a. suggest that fire high dranlts were covered
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-- hydrants are covered, at least not until october of this year. 10 short weeks before the law takes effect. on october 22, the e.p.a. announced that because fire hydrants are occasionally, but rarely, used in the stream of human water consumption, they are not exempt under the act. this means any hydrant manufactured or installed 33 days from now must have a lead content that meets the statutory standard. the e.p.a.'s conclusion was based on a technical reading of the statute and because the rules -- rule's announcement takes effect in early january, the solution is this brief but important legislation. the worry for water utilities and firefighters is that hydrants can break without warning. often as a result of vehicular accidents. winter is a busy team for
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replacing hydrants, due in part to freezing road conditions. but neither water utilities nor firefighters can tolerate a hydrant that are not certified to meet strict performance standards and parameters. high dranlts must never get -- hydrants must never get stuck closed and should never leak. why do hydrants contain tiny amounts of lead in the brass alloys in their valves and other parts? because that alloy gives a cleaner fit that doesn't leak and doesn't get stuck. confidence that a hydrant meets this standard is crucial. mr. speaker, even though a couple of manufacturers claimed to have developed high dranlts that can meet today's lead-free standard, none of them claims independent verification of the lead-free standard. much less proof that the extreme low-lead hydrant will work for fire safety.
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if such hydrants are developed and later certified, communities will certainly always be free to choose them. but in the meantime, the 2010 law is unfor giving. it does not allow exemptions for even the least frequent and briefest exposures to water that may pass through a hydrant. communities that never allow any human consumption of water from a hydrant will be barred from installing hydrants that today are in stock and ready to meet emergency repairs. . fromisk to human health is long-term exposure. that's why there is no scientific data showing health effects of people drinking water from hydrants but there are documented times when firefighters arrive on the emergency scene to find that the hydrant is out of service, this
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leads to tragget that we can and must avoid. if shower valves and tub fillers are exempt, let's exempt high drapts so there are no gaps in fire safety. i urge a yes vote on h.r. 3588 and reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the chair reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. tonko: i yield myself such time as i will require. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. tonko: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm very pleased to be here with my colleague from ohio in support of h.r. 3588. as we heard three years ago, congress passed important legislation to reduce lead by eliminating a remaining source of lead, our water delivery infrastructure. the reduction of lead in drinking water act amended the safe drinking water act to
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address the high levels of lead documented in the drinking water in many communities. lead is a very dankous contaminant and it is especially dangerous to our children. it is retained in their bodies and leads to a host of chronic problems. we need to remove lead from our drinking water, but we do not need to regulate fire high drapts to achieve this worthy and important goal. fire hydrants are rarely used to provide drinking water and those rare occasions are during emergencies. for instance, the break of a water main. and when these rare events occur , flushing the hydrant is sufficient to ensure that lead and other contaminants are not conveyed in the water. as sometimes happens, mr. speaker, laws have unintended consequences. when congress passed the amendments to the safe drinking water act three years ago, i
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doubt anyone intended to have e.p.a. regulate fire hydrants. e.p.a. had a seminar on this issue. they consulted experts, municipalities from across our country, state and city regulatory agencies and water supply companies. these sources provided the agency with information to demonstrate that regulating high drapts would be expensive to implement and it would deliver virtually no additional public health benefits. closer to home, i heard from two municipalities in my district, latham and colony. their local leaders were concerned about the expense of replacing their inventory of fire high drapts and about problems that could arise if they were unable to service and replace hydrants in a timely manner. as we all know. fire hydrants are a vital part
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of the safety infrastructure of every community. large or small across this great country. i'm told the average cost is as high as $2,000 per hydrant if not more. most communities keep a reserve so high drapts can be replaced as needed. without this fix, communities across the country would be spending millions to replace inventories of working hydrants. not only would communities have to replace their inventory of hydrants but there is real question of the availability of lead-free alternatives. the supply is still small and some newer designs have yet to be tested and certified fully. we do not need to impose unnecessary costs on our communities across this country. we can fix this problem and we are moving forward with a sound and effective solution today. h.r. 3588 has fire hydrants to
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the list of plumbing fixtures and other components of water infrastructure that are exempted from the requirements to reduce lead. h.r. 3588 is a simple, bipartisan bill that provides a straightforward correction to the law. it will save our communities money and time, two very important commodities. in addition rgs the bill contains a provision requiring the e.p.a. administrator to consult with the council on options for reducing lead in our drunking water. hopefully this dialogue will provide more cost-effective options for achieving cleaner, safer, drinking water. i commend our colleague, representative johnson, for his work on this legislation and thank him for working together with me to ensure that chupets
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can concentrate on efforts that will bring true public health improvements to our citizens and avoid unnecessary expenses that achieve no real benefits. with that, mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. mr. johnson: i have no further members that which to speak on this issue if my good friend, mr. tonko, is prepared to summarize, i'm prepared to close. mr. tonko: mr. speaker, i have no other speakers here on our side. again, i want to thank the gentleman from ohio. i want to thank chairman upton and ranking member waxman for expediting this very important bill and i urge all of our colleagues to support this worthy legislation. with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york yields.
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the chair recognizes the gentleman from ohio. mr. johnson: mr. speaker, i want to say thanks to my good friend and colleague, mr. tonko, for his support of this legislation. it may seem trivial to some, but trust me, it's not trivial to the many communities who are sitting on stockpiles literally millions of dollars worth of current hydrant technology that would have to be replaced. and that money just going down the tubes. i, too, urge a yes vote on h.r. 3588. and with that, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3588. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 being in the --
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mr. johnson: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having risen, yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8, clause 20, biller proceedings on this will be postponed. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately
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coming up in little more than 20 representatives discussed the prospects for a trade agreement between the u.s. and the european union. they will speak to an audience at the university of regina. from a also have remarks guest on the role of countries in world affairs. including the recent nuclear deal at iran. our live coverage is at 6:00 eastern, coming up in about 20 minutes. >> social media is a very old
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idea. we think it is recent and only people alive today have ever done it, but there is a long tradition of social media that goes back to the era of cicero, first century bc. need ant is you do not digital network. if you have one, it goes faster, but you could do it in the old days. cicero did it with a pyrus rolls and messengers, and other members of the elite were linked to him and they all spoke to each other and it was a social and environment. there were other examples. martin luther and his use of pamphlets. anneourt of and bolin -- boleyn. >> the first 2000 years of social media, tonight on "the communicators," at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. 1974, ford was
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sworn in as president. this was the dress that mrs. ford was wearing in the story insert money in the eastern room. she was less than excited about becoming first lady, the president ford encouraged her, saying we can do this. she resolved if i'm going to have to do this, i will have fun. the fun for her started immediately. within 10 days she had a state dinner for her keen hussein of jordan. >> first lady betty ford, tonight at 9:00 eastern, live on alson and c-span3, c-span radio and www.c-span.org. -- ericshould seki
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shineseki spoke at an international conference for drug court professionals. >> i'm delighted to be here at the veterans treatment courts professionals. let me thank general barry mccaffrey for his many years of leadership in uniform and government and today in business. he and i have known each other from our dayse, as youngsters at west point. i would tell you without question barry mccaffrey is one of the best combat commanders to have come out of my generation of soldiers. [applause] my thanks as well to west huddleston,- wes
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your ceo for inviting me today. let me acknowledge judge robert russell. [applause] i still remember vividly my visit to your courtroom in 2009. again,is good to see you judge. other members of the judiciary, drug court professionals, drug mentors who make these course innovative and suggest -- and successful, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, we , you better than i, that we are guiding my new mentor. monument the way we address crime in this country. and so the veterans who have been brought up on charges, they are releasing back to the streets. you have underwritten treatment as a powerful option for dealing with those who a broken our
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laws. bcp forks to the nab this ambitious undertaking. there are perhaps four or five courts in january 2009, as i arrived to assume these responsibilities at the v.a., and that barry mccaffrey's urging i went to visit judge russell. the power of the very difference -- veterans court concept right then was clear, undeniable, and compelling, and since that visit v.a. has been your full partner, agreed to bring all its capabilities to bear where ever a judge decided to establish a veterans court, and that offer is still good today. last month v.a.'s justice outreach specialist reported courts and operation
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throughout the country. nearly 90% this past year alone, with another dozen or so slated to open for before the end of the year. and so my thanks and congratulations to all of you for what you have done for veterans. in my opinion, we will never be able to do enough for the men and women who have signed on to safeguard our way of life. veterans comprise just over 7% of theent -- entire population of this great country. 22 .2 million of them live amongst them straight less than our country's people where its uniforms. we ended the draft years ago, and these men and women are the folks who picked that load up for all of us. these are the folks who democracy.ur vibrant
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of our 22 million living veterans, less than nine million are enrolled in v.a. health care. i am told incarceration is the number one predictor of homelessness. and i am also told there is a nexus of factors to describe homelessness. so if we're going to break the cycle between perforation and homelessness, we will have to raise our level of collaboration , and leverage all of our assets to address these factors which seems so pervasive when dealing with troubled veterans. again, depression, insomnia, pain, failedse,
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relationships. this requires the a's collaboration with a host of agencies. i would start with the departments of housing him urban development, labor, justice, defense, health and human services, education committee irs some of the social security and small business administrations, as well as a number of other federal, state, and local agencies and organizations. veterans are counting on us to solve these challenges. operates at, v.a. large health care -- integrated health care systems, may be one of the larger ones in the country, on hundred 51 medical centers, 871 clinics, 300 vet centers, and i know
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there are 70 mobile outreach clicks that reach out into the most rural areas defined veterans who live remotely. over 1700 remote access points nationwide. beyond health care, v.a. revised $10 billion in education assistance annually, second only to the department of education. v.a. guarantees nearly 1.8 million home loans, the only zero-down into the inner nation, and our foreclosure rate is lowest among all categories of mortgage loans. as the ninth largest life insurance and price, with 6.7 million clients and 95% customer saxes faction -- satisfaction rating. to the support of the congress and the leadership of the president and the invites and since i've our -- advice and assistance of our various
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service organizations, as well as our partnership with a host of federal, state, and nonprofit organizations, progress since 2009 includes a 50% growth in .'s budget request, from 99.8 billion dollars to more for this year. of -- enrollment of over 2 million veterans in the a health care. 62 new outpatient clinics opened, including our first major v.a.' in 17 years. all the backlogs, we have been working on, but a drop of about 36% in those claims in the last been the deliberate plan we have put together involving people, processes, and technologies that has come
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together powerfully. a 24% of decrease in the estimated number of homeless veterans, a remarkable trend during that time of an economic challenge. usually, they are in these times homelessness goes up. alth fundinge heigh has increased. billionet includes $7 to increase access to mental health services. a year ago the president to record the hiring of 1600 additional mental health professionals. v.a. has exceeded that goal and specialistsupport to augment the professional staff. one of our most successful mental health initiatives has been our veterans crisis line. many of you know about it. dod knows it, as the military crisis line, same number, same treating mental health
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professionals answering the phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, an example of our partnering to delivering care to those made. since startup, the crisis line has answered over 890,000 phone calls from veterans in need, and most importantly, 30,000 of those callers were rescued from suicide in progress. [applause] three years ago v.a. asked himself whether we might be overmedicated our patients, especially those under mental health treatment. v.a. worked with dod, and we iseloped and v.a. implementing the guidelines that discourage overuse of opiates in favor of other medications and therapies. [applause]
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some of our 21 health care networks have taken steps to reduce the use of opiates. 012, one metric has dose its use of high- and decreasing oxycontin use by 99%. [applause] for veterans entering the justice system who are dealing with substance abuse, we have established something all the justice outreach, vjo. it is an office of 172 full-time specialists irking directly with the justice officials to see that veterans who are either before the court or already in jail get the care they need that arets -- and that courts supported in their consideration of best possible all turner's to
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toarceration -- alternatives incarceration on this. we are supportive of you on this. we are working to connect our specialists with american indian tribal justice systems it is the same thing. -- justice systems to do the same thing. in their first year, 2010, vjo specialist served 5800 veterans. this year that number is up to and we36,000 veterans, plan to hire another 75 specialists next year. -- very brethren serve few of the old who are served by vjo our first time offenders. over 93% who have spent time in jail or prison, 20% have spent a year or more behind bars. of these veterans have been
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homeless at least once. these are the challenging segments of our veteran population, but the number is also telling us we are making -- positiveorts is, differences for them when we work with the courts to provide them v.a. care and services. 2/3 of veterans before the completeccessfully their treatment regimens. when they receive v.a. services, the experience and 80% reduction year afterto treatment court admission. they benefit from a 30% increase in stable housing in the year after. v.a., the courts, and our volunteer mentors have been able betweenk the cycle homelessness and incarceration, giving these veterans a much better chance for success. prevention does not always work, and some veterans do still go to jail or prison, so we have increased our presence there as well.
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our health care for reentry hcrvp, as 44ram -- full-time specialists working in a thousand prisons -- and that is about 80% of all prisons in the united states -- and our goal is to release veterans with care with training to help reentry veterans become productive. we assist 9000 reentering veterans each year, but we also know by an estimate that that is probably one in six of all veterans being released. last year we added a new online rss, toity called v enable corrections official to quickly and easily identify any .eteran in their institutions
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the past three months, the number of jail or prison systems using vrss has more than doubled, with 30 more in the process of accessing the service. i have written to each governor, encouraging collaboration with and withh vrss, greater participation we will be a where -- we will be better able to help veterans. we intend to make vrss available to the courts as well. veterans who may be dealing with ptsd, depression, insomnia, substance use disorder, and pain need and deserve our help. we have an opportunity to help them with health care, safe housing, education, and jobs, a chance to rebuild lives that somehow lost their way. in closing, in the spring of
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martinavy veteran donald parked his pickup truck at a virginia rest area. it had broken down. and federal park rangers found container ofpened alcohol, charged him with dui. martin, 57, had been living in his sister's basement, essentially homeless, after losing his job, unemployed, and going through a divorce, failed relationship. he had also been battling alcohol dependence for decades, and had already had two dui's on his reckon. substance use disorder. meanird dui would atomatic incarceration, and downward spar. his attorney recommended participating in a veterans treatment court.
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without knowing much about it, martin consented. a u.s. attorney agreed to take the dui charge off the docket, allowing him to appear before a veterans treatment court heard that treatment court team, judge today,--who may be here the u.s. attorney, martin's defense attorney, his probation officer, and a v.a. justice outreach specialist from the v.a. center, he began a program at the salem v.a. group treatment sessions read he also met with a vocational rehab counselor to address his need for employment. hismonths into participation in veterans treatment court, barton was hired as a sprinkler system installer ---- martin was hired
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as a sprinkler system installer. he said this was a boost his self-esteem and his sobriety. veterans treatment court lasted six months, during which he completed his substance abuse treatment and maintained his bridie and employment. judge six months, the presented him with a challenge colin, symbolizing his graduation from his court. employed,in remains has maintained a sobriety, and has had no further run-ins with the law. he has been promoted three times and received the performance bonus from his employer, and he has reconnected with his ex- wife. martin says of his arrest and its aftermath, a treatment court changed my life. the court was not against me. they were actually in my corner. they wanted me to do well. to get my life straightened out. you would not believe the turn
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of events in my life. so no of us can imagine a better ending to donald martin's story, but it is all because a judge and his treatment court team dared to care. i'm sure each of you in this room has a similar story to tell, and so to all of you, my heartfelt thanks for giving these veterans a chance to demonstrate that they were the folks who carried the safety of our country on their shoulders. i am honored to be here this morning, and honored again to see my old friend barry mccaffrey. thank you all very much. at 6:30ouse returns eastern. until then, a look at the health care law and current and roman numbers. it is from "washington journal," and we will show you a look at this again. host: for a closer look at the future of the affordable care
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act, we turn now to emily ethridge. let's start with yesterday's press briefing on fixing the federal insurance exchange website. what was your take away from the briefing? guest: the department of health and human services says, pretty much, they give themselves a passing grade. they think they hit their deadline for making the website work for most people by november 30, this past weekend. they say they did a whole management overhaul and the site is up and running more than 90% of the time, up from about three percent of the time in october. it is a huge dump for them. they say the response time is less than a second. the error rate has gone down. they have addressed a lot of the big issues with the website in terms of the consumer experience. host: we read this editorial
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from "the wall street journal" today. "obamacare mission accomplished." go through it again for our viewers. this briefing, did you get that sense? guest: it was not, because they get a huge emphasis on, we still have a lot of work to do, this is by no means a perfect system, we have got it to where we wanted, but there are still a lot of things that need to be fixed. this is still an ongoing process to make this thing work better and better. they still acknowledge there are a lot of parts of the website they need to continue to work on. saying, yes, we did it, everything is great, and we will take off now. host: what is the measure of success to look at? guest: how people can enroll and insurance companies, are they getting the accurate information they need in order to enroll people and give them their coverage, receive the payments from those getting subsidies,
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and that will be -- starting january 1, how many people will actually have insurance under this law, how may people are successful going to the doctor and paying the bills, insurance companies getting copayments and all of those things. we need to see it working in real life. host: the issue of how insurance companies themselves will use this, the subject of several stories today. here is one from "the new york times" as well as graphics. tell us a little bit about what insurers are actually saying about how they're using the site. guest: insurers are saying at the back end of the site, where insurers see, when people enroll, how much those people owe. is there a government subsidy, the actual registry of people enrolled, and the separate insurance plans. people are now saying, i have been enrolled in the plan.
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the consumer thinks that successfully been enrolled. the insurance company is not always getting the information. the insurance companies we have no record of you actually having been enrolled, and they say right now that is manageable, but if there is a big spike in enrollment numbers, as expected in january and march, that could be a bigger and bigger problem for insurance companies. they are really concerned about that right now. host: we are talking to emily ethridge about the affordable care act and the announcements on the white house saying they met their goals for functionality of the website, that the vast majority of folks can use the healthcare.gov website. if you have questions or comments, give us a call.
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as folks are calling in, news from last week on the supreme court taking up cases that have to do with pieces of the affordable care act, what are the biggest cases we're looking at? guest: the big one we will see the supreme court take up his this case of dealing with whether for-profit companies at -- have to provide contraceptive coverage at no cost to their employees or the law requires that. it requires insurance plans to offer no charge contraception. religious extensions get an exception. it creates a workaround.
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but there are for-profit companies saying they should get the exemption as well because of their religious beliefs. the main one is hobby lobby where they brought this case. we expect the supreme court to take up and will on next year. that is really a thing that has attracted a lot of attention in congress. host: the timeline for this, oral arguments likely in march. what is the white house response to the supreme court taking up these cases? guest: the administration asked the courts to take this up and let's have it through -- let's have it resolved so we can go ahead and roll out the law the way we expect. they say they believe they will win in this case. they want this resolved because it has been going on for many years. host: calls on this subject are coming in. tony is from fort worth, texas, on the line for democrats. caller: my comment, question, -- host: go ahead. caller: my comment and question is, the president has had three years to get this straight.
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i voted for the president twice. i never liked obamacare. i fought for him because i trusted him. he had three years to get it straight. nobody told it was bad. now, we are waiting for mediocrity. i heard rick santorum went on talk shows yesterday and say going for payment and verification is still not working properly. if we take 90 days to get a straight, it will take 90 days. just get it straight. tell us when exactly it will be fully functional. the law. we do not have a choice about this. let us deal with it. instead of trying to appease half of us. host: emily, the president announced yesterday the website
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is working for the vast majority of people who use it. is there some target date set for when it will fully be functional? guest: they never really said when it be fully functional for everybody in all aspects of the site. they obviously expect that to happen by march or the end of march, because that is when you must enroll in order to not have the penalty for not having insurance, by the end of march 2014. we have seen things change and deadlines move, especially in the last couple of months. it may be moved again. we are not sure quite yet when there will ever be that, everything is good now and there will not be more problems. host: the caller brought up some of the comments on the sunday shows yesterday. a republican was on "meet the press" on sunday. he criticized the obamacare websites security functions. i want to play you a bit of that clip now and get your comments.
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[video clip] guest: completely not. well overstated. they have made progress and brought in private sector folks to try to get the functionality up. it still does not function right. their own cio said he believed if they had the ability to get up to 80% functionality, that would be a good day for them. the functionality is right, but here is the most important part of this discussion no one talks about. the security of the site and the private information does not meet even the minimal standards of the private sector. that concerns me. i do not care if you are for or against it, republican or democrat, we should not tolerate the sheer level of incompetence securing this site. remember how much personal information is not only there, but all of the sites the hub accesses would expose americans personal information in a way
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breathtakingly bad. host: explain some of the security issues the congressman was talking about in that issue. guest: this is a big concern for him because his background is in security. he has been bringing this a lot with hearings. the one part of the site the administration said worked really well is this data hub. that security has not been a problem. there have not been successful hacking attempts. there have been tries they said they stopped and prevented. they have really emphasized, the administration, that this only transmits information. it does not store any personal information. it is not kept in a database that has been hacked. it just sends it along from one place to another, and then it is gone. it does not stay there. they said with all the problems they have had, that is the one
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part that has not had any problems and has worked as it should hear it even though republicans are really quite interested in that issue. host: with interviews like that and the concern out there, is the white house doing enough to show it is concerned about these security issues? lori from indianapolis, indiana, writes us an e-mail -- guest: absolutely. one of the problems the administration is having right now is they tend to respond when asked a question about it. i think people might be more assured if they came out without being asked first and said, here's what we're doing and here is our system and here is all the privacy that would get contractors to come up and say,
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this is why information is secure if you go on amazon.com or use online banking. we have similar policies in place. that is what they say, but only after being questioned by people like congressman rogers. host: a health-care reporter for "cq roll call." have you always covered health care issues? guest: pretty much. i started in march 2010 right after the law was signed. i have been covering it ever since. host: you can follow her on twitter and see her work. a few callers are waiting to ask you questions and offer their comments. jackie is up first. good morning. you're on with emily ethridge. caller: good morning. a couple of questions. i watched the hearings with issa when they brought sebelius before the congress to ask pretty important questions like, why was this not working and why
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were they not more prepared. am i to understand they did go outside the united states to hire the web builder for this, and if they did, why? if it does turn out these people were incompetent and breached a contract or anything like that, they will be dealing with foreign laws. why, with all the intelligent people we have in america, if they did in fact go outside our country to do this, why could they not have used somebody in the united states? guest: there are several contractors working on this project. almost all of them are u.s.- based. there is one that has some ties and might be headquartered in england. all of their actual offices and managers and employees are all here in the united states facilities, especially the midwest. if you do not enroll online or in a call center, you enroll through paper and then get to
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these circle of contractors who enter it into the exchanges and get you enrolled that way. it is mostly all-american base contractors. it is a good point about what happens if these contractors are not held responsible, if the administration says some of the problems were from the contractors, how does that work out? so far, they decided they have confidence and used them as part of the process to make the website better. they actually put one qssi in charge of managing the other contractors throughout this improvement process. we have seen nothing but confidence in the contractors from the u.s. administration. host: how much was spent to build a website? guest: they have not spent more than what was in the contract. some of the contractors earlier this year said they needed a lot
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more money to make this function the way they said it would. they almost asked for doubling in some cases of current contractor funds. the administration was not entirely thrilled with that request at the time. host: a comment on twitter -- host: we have got about 20 minutes left with emily ethridge. we will go to barry from florida on our lines for republicans. caller: my question is the administration has bragged about the one provision of the law that it allows children or young
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people to stay on their parent'' medical plan until the age of 26 and 27. something like that. i have two questions on that. doesn't that really benefit only the upper-middle-class, the people who have the kinds of jobs that will allow them to bring children into their plan? number two, is that successful? the administration has provided no data. if it is successful, does that not undercut the other part of the plan that aid the young people to contribute on the exchanges in order to support older and sicker people? i would like to hear your comments on that. thank you. guest: that is a good point. they do need to have the balance of younger and healthier people who do not need as many
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healthcare services, along with those, the older people who might need more, in order for there to be a good risk balance. that is a big concern. i think with the administration, they really wanted, maybe if you are a young adult under 26, you have insurance under your parent plan and then you turned 27 and do not have insurance anymore, you have been used to having insurance, u.s. in the benefits, and that might prompt you to get a plan. a person under 30 in the exchanges can buy catastrophic lands, which gives you the basic services, emergency room coverage, for a lower cost. you get fewer services covered, but at a more affordable rate. they are trying to make this work so young people do enter the marketplaces and get the insurance coverage and really make that benefit work for them. host: on twitter -- is that something you can speak to? guest: it is true in a lot of the states, especially those running their own exchanges,
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there is a huge difference between what the cost of the plan is in mississippi versus a plan in kentucky. even though these are federally run exchanges, each state has its own plans. insurance plans are only sold within that state. there can be big differences. you can get the exact same plan at the exact same coverage at completelyh different prices depending on where you live. host: those health-care exchanges, there are 17 state- based exchanges, 27 states are defaulting to the federal exchanges and then there are seven partnership exchanges out there. since you bring up the subject of the state-run exchanges, talk about the enrollment numbers of the states versus the federal exchange. guest: so far, the states running their own exchanges have been doing much better than the federal exchange. we might see that change now that the administration has said it is fixed a lot of the problems with the federal exchange.
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some states have been almost a complete failure so far. oregon has, i think, not signed up anybody almost, which is very surprising. in states like california and kentucky and new york, they are going very well. they have reported huge success. they are getting the numbers they expected. people are saying it is easy to use. that is really helping the administration. they hope the states doing not so well were learned lessons from the states doing well. host: what are the problems in a state like oregon? what is keeping them from succeeding? guest: we all wish they knew. a lot of it is just the website. you are just not being able to enroll and use the website and compare plans. for whatever reason, whether it is a technological glitch or something else, the website just is not working. they are telling people ok, use call centers, but at some point, that data still has to be entered into the online system
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by somebody. if your system is not working to get that data to insurers, it will be a rocky road ahead. host: let's go to duane from new york on our line for democrats. you are on with emily. caller: good morning. i want to make a comment that i feel like it took us 70 years to get to this point in time in terms of health care coverage for everyone. i feel like we are nitpicking the aca apart in 30 days. my question is, where was all of this impatience prior to two years ago or three years ago, whatever, when we did not have any of what we have presently? i feel like the pundits and media types, they are looking at it in a minimalist way. i do not feel like they are looking at the laws -- the effort here in terms of getting health care. i feel like we are just nitpicking and ignoring the
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bigger issue that basically, -- i'm sorry, we are just losing the larger idea of what is trying to take place. guest: this is a huge piece of legislation. a major change. a lot of benefits will come out from it. republicans who say there are all these problems with the web rollout, we need to repeal it, what would you like to do instead, to make it up to the people who will now getting health care coverage and would lose it if you got rid of the law? they are trying to say, this is more than a website. you have heard a lot of democrats say that. it is a big law. let's step back and look at the bigger picture and get the
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problems fixed some people can get the benefits. that is what you're hearing from democrats a lot right now. host: a headline from today's "washington post." members of congress running on the health care law and 2014. do you think democrats will be running on this law, or do you think it will be more republicans running on some of the problems we have seen in recent months? guest: we know republicans will be running on these problems big-time. it has been interesting to watch the senate democrats, particularly the ones up for reelection in 2014. a lot of those are in vulnerable seats. they have been supporting the law, but also bringing up their own suggestions and fixes and things we should do instead to make us run better. there has been a whole series of bills from senate democrats up in 2014 saying, keep the law, the let's change this one part. extend the open enrollment time. let's make it easier for insurance brokers to enroll people themselves. while they are still supporting the law and its foundation, then they can go to constituents and
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say, i tried to make this work at her and held the administration better and tried to make the law work for you and make it easier for you. that is where we are seeing the democrats move in in terms of campaigning. in october, once we really became aware of how big the problems were, the administration, the white house, had all of this senate democrats up for reelection in 2014 over for a big meeting at the white house with obama and vice president biden to tell them, ok, it will be ok. here is how we go through this. and to hear their problems and say, how can we make this better for you? host: here is a "roll call" story from last week -- noting a group of seven democrats are calling on president obama to appoint an official to oversee the ongoing repairs of the beleaguered federal health care website. jeffrey's roll over the past month and a half, talk a little bit about that and if he will
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actually be replaced by the white house. guest: he came into takeover and managed this whole project once we became aware of the website problems. he is really the ringleader of all of the fixes and things that needed to be changed on the website. he is going to move to a different position. we are not sure exactly when. he is scheduled to take over in january. the white house says they will replace him and we are not sure when he will be replaced or with, and the democrats, i think, led by a democrat from new hampshire, have asked, we want a long-term, permanent person in this position, so we know who's accountable and are not constantly changing leadership. that could end up with bad management. that was one of the biggest problem with the website, poor communication. no one really in charge of this. he was put in as the man in charge. we now need to know who the next man in charge will be.
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host: we are talking with emily ethridge. our independents line, thank you for calling. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to say medicare has been around for approximately 50 years. it started out to be a great program for the american people. as time went by, the federal government would hack it here and hack it there, and before we know it, there is nothing in that for the people who have paid their whole lives into. now they are coming up with this obamacare and obamacare will be just like medicare, where no doctors and hospitals want this health insurance because the federal government will not pay the bills for these elderly people. for example, my father was in the hospital with pneumonia. my dad was on his deathbed. they came in three days later, and medicare said they would not pay another penny for my dad to
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get him out of the hospital. they came in and told my dad, he has to pack his stuff and get out. i had to bring my dad home and nurse back to health. obamacare will come in and be just like that. people in the country will be in the hospital, sick, and the federal government will not pay for this hospitalization. these people will be out sick because they will not pay the bills. guest: it does expand medicaid for some people but for some it will be private insurance plans. with medicare, i'm sure that medicare when it was created in the 1960's, we had the baby boom generation, and all of a sudden they are medicare-eligible. for more people on medicare,
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living longer, and that has contributed to some different factors. medical experts say that medicare looks like an insurance plan from the 1960's. the private insurance plans are updated and changed, change the policies to reflect the current population, medicare hasn't been able to do that yet. one of the keys for the health- care law is can it adapt to the times, can it be modernized as the population changes in health care needs change in the country. host: rick in michigan, on our live for republicans. thanks for calling "washington journal." caller: i have been studying the fundamentals of america the last several years. bottom line is vladimir lenin, soviet dictator, said that the keystone to socialism is universal or centralized health
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care, and basically, control the health care, you control the individual. i am not going to comply with anything that this president or anything that is socialized or anything -- socialized banking, socialized health care, anything that this president puts out. the bottom line is socialism. host: are you planning not to enroll -- caller: i am not going to comply to anything, to this health care at all. i am not going to buy into anything of their products. i don't buy into a product that i don't like. i do not like this product. i will not comply. host: emily ethridge, for those who may not comply, explain the step-up process in terms of the fines that folks are going to have to pay if they choose to take that path. guest: if you choose not to have
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insurance or coverage, for 2014 not having coverage is $95. the fee increases every year for the next several years. by the end, you could be looking at a $600 fee per year. some people say that that is less than the cost of my insurance plan. i would rather pay the penalty and not have insurance for whatever reason because maybe it costs less. there is concern that young people might make that choice, especially, and not make changes because of that, financial reasons. democrats in support of the law would say you might be paying more for insurance but at least you are getting insurance, whereas if you pay the penalty, you don't have any insurance. host: bowie, maryland, line for democrats. caller: after all this negativity, i have a very positive story. i worked for very bad company,
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and i had my health insurance, i just couldn't work for them anymore. cobra was too expensive. after the cobra period, i basically try to buy basic insurance because i have a pre- existing condition. there was only one company i could apply for. i applied for the company -- actually, the main company -- and they turned me down because of pre-existing condition. they put me in a company, an insurance company or carrier -- we're going live to the house. by the yeas and nays and h.r. 3588 by the yeas and nays. and agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal de novo. first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the the
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gentleman from texas, mr. smith, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3547 on which yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3547 a bill to extend the application of certain space launch liability provisions through 2014. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]
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the speaker pro tempore: the eas are 375, the nays are 5.
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the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 376, the nays are 5. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the bill is suspended and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the the gentleman from ohio, mr. johnson, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3588 on which yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3588, a bill to amend the safe drinking water
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act to ex ement hydrants, lead pipes, solders and flux. the speaker pro tempore: the question is is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. his is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]
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the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 384, the nays are zero. 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does -- pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, the unfinished business is the question on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal, which the chair will put de novo. >> mr. speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. for what purpose does the
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gentleman from gentleman rise? >> i ask a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]
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the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 237, the nays 126, present, one. the journal stands approved. the chair announces the speaker's appointment pursuant to 2 u.s.c. 501b and thed orer of the house of january 3, 2013, of the physical lowing members to the house commission on congressional mailing standards. the clerk: mrs. miller of michigan, chairman. mr. price of georgia and mr. lat -- mr. latta of ohio. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute
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speeches. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. rostrost: i ask unanimous consent -- ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: today i visited a group of advocates who 21 days ago vowed to abstain from food to raise awareness of the need for a bipartisan remedy for our broken immigration -- immigration system. support for the fasters is growing. like many in the united states -- in the u.s. they want to find a solution for immigrant families living in this great country that they call home. we can all agree it's time to modernize our immigration laws. fixing what is broken will not be an easy task but it will bring benefits to our nation which can be strengthened and reinvigorated by those hardworking individuals.
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i encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reach across one another, begin a conversation and resolve this issue. we can work together to secure our bordered and honor the rule of law while addressing the problems in our immigration system with solutions that reflect our american principles. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: if the gentlewoman would suspend for one moment. the chair will remind all persons in the gallery that they are here as guests of the house and any manifestation of approval or disapproval of proceedings is in violation of the rules of the house. the gentlewoman may proceed.
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ms. pelosi: -- >> i want to join the distinguished ranking member of the foreign affairs committee, former chair of the foreign affairs committee, congresswoman ros-lehtinen in saying i too visited the fast for families and i fast for immigration, i wear the button. i am so proud our house of representatives showed its respect to the strength of the message of our guests here today. ms. pelosi: because immigration is about america. it's who we are, by and large a nation of immigrants. it's the constant reinvig ration of our country. every person who come here's with his or her hopes, dreams, and aspirations for a better future, the optimism for the future, courage to come to -- to come, to work hard, to play by the rules. that invigorates america and the traditions of family,
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community and the rest, really every immigrant comes with -- who comes with those values and those goals makes america more american. i also rise, mr. speaker, to talk about a place where immigration and health come together and i thank president obama for lifting the travel ban on those affected with h.i.v. -- infected with h.i.v. it had been my original intent to talk about world aids day, which we celebrated yesterday but i wanted to pay my respects to those fasting for immigration. our work on h.i.v.-aids has been a product of bipartisan cooperation in this congress over a long period of time. in the white house, though, first with president clinton, we increased the bilateral programs to fight aids and helped create, authorize and fund the global fund. then under the leadership of president bush we established pepfar and provided the
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necessary funding to ramp up emergency response to the crisis. president obama has strengthened those efforts and boosted our investments by law firming the national hiv-aids strategy. in addition to that, president obama announces that pepfar would not only reach its goal of providing treatment for six million people by 2013, but will exceed that farget by providing 6.7 million people with life-saving treatment. s that tribute to the leadership of president george w. bush and to president obama. true today, president obama went further and signed the pepfar and global fund re-authorization bill into law and i'm proud that president obama announced a commitment of $1 for every $2 provided by other donors up to $5 billion through 2016. this marks a likely $1 billion increase over previous years.
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that means more lives saved, quality of life increased. our work is far from finished. h.i.v. and aids is a really resourceful disease that virus ever mutating, just when you think that we have it in our sights, it changes. so we have to be resourceful in hiv-aids h to the allow ecause we kill not h.i.v. and aids to claim so many lives when we have within our means the science, the prevention, the care the search for a cure. to make a difference. one of the most exciting parts of it is that we will now be able to have an aids-free generation of transmitals from mother to child which is quite a remarkable -- among other remarkable aspects of it. but this is a really important issue about our values as a country, our concern for people
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in our community, and across -- and globally across the world. which takes us back to the beautiful reception that our fasters for immigration received when they were here earlier. as a mom and as a grandmother i would encourage them not to fast very much longer but i want them to know that we all recognize their sacrifice, understand the need to pass comprehensive immigration reform and hope that that will happen soon. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i request unanimous consent to address the house for onemen and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary of the university of pittsburgh at bradford, located in mckeane county, pennsylvania.
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50 years ago pitt-bradford was a few buildings with a few students. it's grown from a feed campus to a distinguished, thriving four-year university. today their chasm pus is home to 4,600 students. the university offers 37 bachelors degrees, and more than 50 minors. for the last nine consecutive years, pitt-bradford has been ranked by the review as one of the best clieges in the northeast. area residents have a grow -- have access to a growing number of jobs and the economy has greatly benefited i offer my praise to the university's founders and the generations of students and teachers who have worked to turn this campus into a renounced institute of higher learning. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the
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gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today to highlight the growing involvement of san diego's schools and businesses the live well san diego initiative. it gauges -- engages everyone to improve the health, fitness and safety of every residents. diseases contribute to 50% and live well san diego is working to find ways to reduce their impact and lower health care costs in the long-term. through involvement with schools in my district, live well san diego is reducing childhood obesity through recess breaks. the san diego north chamber of
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commerce joined with live well san diego to educate business owners about creating workplaces that focus on health and wellness. clear channel communications has partnered to spread the word. the initiative launched a web site to give residents information to live healthier lives. live well san diego is an example of how private-public partnerships are improving public health. i'm proud of the work that live well san diego is doing for the people of san diego county. our residents are happier and healthier because of it. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute. >> i rise today to recognize the 125 years of outstanding service and community involvement of an institution
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providing wonderful service to my district. staffofessional dedicated has provided services. following their grace, honor and integrity, they have served the aging population. beyond the task, the leadership has been open and forth coming ways s new and innovative to help seniors across the country. by working with leaders in the field, we have found better ways to represent the seniors in my district and serve the needs of those who care for them each day. i wish the best for them and i to our commitment community continues for another 125 years. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition?
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ms. jackson lee: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: yesterday was world aids day and before i left my home district this morning, i gathered with long tim freends and fighters against the surge and the scurge of hiv-aids. although we have come a long way and made a great difference, 50,000 people are affected each year by hiv-aids. this is the 32nd year of the establishment or the announcement of the epidemic of hiv-aids and today some 34 million-plus live with hiv-aids. 9 1/2 minutes in this country, someone is infected. stand here in salute of the
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of foundation one because the health care at the give and thank them for the devotion they provided to us and aids foundation, to thank them for letting people who live with aids and have a comfort. i'm wearing another button today and that is to salute those and to embrace those who are for the fast for families. we must have comprehensive immigration reform and i stand with them until we pass to save lives as well. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? mr. paulsen: i rise today to congratulate the eagles for winning minnesota high school football championship. it was a threepete, nine high school championship and became
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the school to win three consecutive titles. the road to the state title was nothing short of excellence and it was earned through unwambering hard work. they ex emapply fide and shown incredible determination, character and team work. no wonder that 20,000 people came out to watch the game. congratulations to the entire team including the coach and athletic director. it is a success to their high level of commitment and all aspects of their years to come. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. lee: let me thank our leader nancy pelosi for her support to fight hiv-aids.
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this morning, i had the honor of joining president obama, secretary kerry, secretary sebelius and many advocates at the white house to mark world aids day. it was a time to remember loved ones we have lost and the reminder of the progress we have made and also a reminder that we cannot stop now. in the united states congress, few issues have transcended bipartisan gridlock like the fight against aids and i want to salute ed royce and representativening else to keep this a bipartisan issue. and in the last two weeks alone we passed the pepfar stewardship and oversight act which president obama signed into law this afternoon. so many played a role and i'm proud of the leadership from the congressional black caucus in supporting pepfar and the minority aids initiative and
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national strategy on hiv-aids. ow is the time to recommit our energy to an aids-free generation. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from seek recognition? ms. kaptur: permission to address the house for one minute. as co-chair of the ukranian caucus, i rise today to condemn violence current currently igniting in ukraine yeah at the hands of their top official. their targets are peaceful protestors and journalists who have been harmed. shouldn't the president and the ukranian government be working to ensure a more open society rather than repressing their own citizens. shouldn't they be rebuilding citizens to freely voice concerns about the future of their country. hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. over one million people have
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taken to the streets out of frustration at that government's abandonment. as protests escalated, journ lifts were met with vial interest police crackdown and many were burned by tear gas. for many years now, ukranians have desired a government and country that embrace liberty, democracy and human rights. they all deserve the opportunity to demonstrate and not fear government retailings. let me say i continue to support ukranian peoples and their demands for democratic reform and face west and east, north and south with no fear of repriceal. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition?
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mr. lowenthal: climate scientists like ron dunbar are warning us that global sea levels will rise from one to seven feet by the end of this september try. let's take a four-foot rise in global sea level. global ld devastate communities and would devastate properties, causing billions of dollars worth of damage. as someone who represents a coastal report, this rise in sea level will cause a tremendous amount of infrastructure needs. we have to take action now to cut greenhouse gas emissions and stop the harm caused by rising sea levels. if we turn our back, we are causing harm to this entire
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planet. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from nevada seek recognition. >> permission to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i want to congratulate the lions football team over mountain view christian for the division 3 nevada state title. they were undefeated throughout the season finishing 11-0. this just wasn't one title game. it was a year of proving they are really the best. and it's not just any state title for this school. this is the first state title since 1981. and they have the support of everyone in town. the whole community was out for the game wearing purple and white. interesting to note, on average, 5.6 ions gave up less than points per game. that is lower than congress'
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approval rating. this is an important of my 151,000 square mile district. congratulations to the students. congratulations to the coach and congratulations to the high school. you make nevada proud. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman recognition? seek >> permission to address the house for one minute and permission to revise and extend my remarks. mr. engel: mr. speaker, yesterday in my district and very near to my home, there was a horrific derailment on the metro north railroad which cost the lives of four people and injuring 63. my heart goes out to the people who died, injured and their families as well. the national transportation safety board is investigating and hopefully very soon, we will
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know exactly what happened and have their recommendations as well. right now, preliminary accounts say that the train was going 83 iles an hour in a 70 mile an hour zone and was going down to curve which should have been a 30 mile an hour zone. when the nt smp b comes out with recommendations for safety on our rail in the united states, at the congress will act accordingly and pass legislation to make our trains safer. in the meantime, our hearts go out to all the victims of this horrific tragedy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i'm honored to welcome to the house of representatives these five
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selfless individuals courageous reformers who made a tremendous sacrifice to raise awareness for the need of immigration reform they are deserving about their cause but also of our admiration. after fasting for over three weeks, these committed reformers have successfully drawn attention to the pressing need to pass immigration reform. at members of congress we cannot ignore the steadfast devotion that these advocates, through further inaction. along with the majority of this country and the majority of the house of representatives, these tremendous leaders know we need comprehensive immigration reform now. unfortunately, the house leadership continues to irresponsibly block commonsense bipartisan reform by refusing to let the full house vote. mr. speaker, these bold leaders deserve more than applause, they
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deserve a vote and deserve it now. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leaves of absence requested for mr. culberson of texas for today and the balance of the week, mrs. mcmorris rodgers for today and the balance of the week. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the requests are granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, mr. collins is recognized. mr. collins: there has been a lot of things going on in the world in the last few weeks and lot here domestically, things that haven't been going well in the administration's agenda. they have been documented. what is the purpose for my rising is the issue that they want to distract from issues at home and that is a very
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disturbing development with iran and the administration's agreement that has been announced. these are disturbing for many reasons. i rise tonight to talk about this because i want to be the american people who are great friends of israel to be assured that there are plenty of members of congress committed to this alliance and i'm proud to be one of them. and also joined with my colleague from illinois and will discuss on a discussion that we believe are the values that we share together. i yield to a brief opening before we go forward tonight. . >> thank you. the world has watched as we had a series of discussions that
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culminated in an agreement, and as we talk about what we will be looking for to make sure that whatever happens, iran is not allowed to achieve nuclear capability and our allies in the region, including israel and saudi arabia and others, are protected from the prospect of a nuclear iran. yield back. mr. collins: we need to speak from a position of power. we need to enforce what we believe are standards that need to be looked at around the world. tonight i want to bring that to the attention of the floor of the house of representatives and to the nation my dedication to the u.s.-israel alliance brings me to the floor with an urgent message to our president. don't fall for iran's peculiar relations campaign. in the words of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, newly elected iranian president
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think he is can have his cake and eat -- yellow cake and eat it too. he's trying to reduce sanctions on his country. over the last phi months -- this is amazing -- his campaign has included by tweeting happy ross ha shanna to jews elebrating their -- happy rosh shanah to jews celebrating their new years. mr. president, tell him words won't improve relations between iran and israel. a truly disturbing deal between iran and the west materialize chd puts israel in a difficult position. the ike discussions over nuclear program, the u.s. sanctions are lifted for six months. this deal benefits no one but
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iran. there are bipartisan measures currently in the house and senate to maintain sanctions and continue to hold iran accountable for its actions. mr. president, i ask you carefully review the rort before moving forward with sanctions relief. to understand his intentions look beyond his words to his actions. on september 19, an op-ed by the iranian president was published in "the washington post" he spoke against glorifying brute force and in favor of ending unhealthy rivalries that drive nations apart. 48 hours later, he pro pre-sided over the iranian military parade showcasing over 30 missiles all with the capability of striking israel. during his speech he said in the past 200 year, iran has never attacked another country. it gets better. of course iran doesn't have to attack because its proxy, hezbollah, carries out its foreign policy.
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his lolba has continuously attacked israel over the decades and is instrumental in fighting the coalition of syrian revolution forces. it's a rebel group which the u.s. recognizes as a legitimate representative of the syrian people. let us not forget iran's intrusion on u.s. soil. the iranian hostage try crisis of 1979 began with an attack on and subsequent occupation of the u.s. emmascy. 52 americans were held hostage for 444 days. the attack had the support of iran's then-leader, ayatollah khomeini. it was a clear violation of international diplomatic protocol. the iranian president mea several years -- claims that their nuclear program is for peaceful pump, saying iran's only desire is to diversify its energy production capabilities. yet iran has not only refused
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to reverse course on enriching uranium, they have developed faster.enrich uranium recently freshman members of the foreign affair committees sent a bipartisan letter to president obama telling him to be vigilant in diplomatic actions with iranis. any diplomatic discussions should not only come after iran has stopped enriching uranium, and after its reduces its store. congress and the american people don't trust the iranian regime. the white house needs to sign the latest set of sanctions. these sanctions go further than previous by targeting the prof fearing of black market goods. sanctions target regime member who are guilty of human rights violations. congress is sending the message that not only do we highly discourage development of nuclear weapons by the regime
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but detest how citizens are subject to torture and restrictions on speech and political persecution. days maizing what is going on right now. the president needs to realize that the mideast is not a czyz chess board and we shouldn't play games with iran. this is a time to stand up and be decisive. we must stand with israel and other rational actors in the region and not capitulate on the development of a nuclear iran. with that i yield to my friend as we share back and forth on different aspects as we go forward. >> i want to thank representative collins for holding this important special order tonight. i think it's timely and necessary that congress continue this conversation and push hard to convince the senate that further action is required to help prevent iran acquire agnew clear weapon. mr. schneider: i remain most skeptical that the iranian
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regime has the ability and willingness to live up to the agreement. we have worked diligently over the years, over a decade, to maintain sanctioned regime that brought iran to the negotiating table. but it was not to come to the table that the sangs were put in place. the sanctions were put in place to ensure or achieve the end of iran's nuclear program. to ensure that iran is not a nuclear-capable country. in july, as was mentioned this body passed by a vote of 400-20, the most sweeping sanctions to date to address the ongoing threat of a nuclear iran that legislation must be taken up in the senate to hold iran accountable to ensure that iran fully understands the implications of not completing a deal in six months to eliminate its nuclear threat. however there are several points of the deal reached with iran that are particularly worrisome. first is interim -- first this intriment agreement can't be aloud to become a permanent
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agreement. the so-called joint plan of action is fraught with dangers, including iran to continue enrichment at the 5% level, allowing iran to continue construction at the iraq reactors which has no purpose other than military uses. allowing the ongoing enhancement of technical capabilities this agreement doesn't agrees -- address iran's long-term program. it doesn't require iran to fully disclose all its activities and it does not address any covert sites which are not yet discovered or disclosed by on -- by iran. this deal as i said is fraught with dangers. purpose as the congress of the united states and with our allies must be to try to navigate the joint plan of action to a permanent agreement that will ultimately freeze iran's activities, roll them back and require iran to
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dismantle facilities and ultimately and most importantly permanently block and permanently close any path iran has to nuclear capability. that includes no enrichment, no plutonium reactor, full transparency, full disclosure, unlimited and unfettered inspections. with that, i yield back to mr. collins. mr. collins: you brought up a great point there. i want to continue to go into the history. i don't want individuals watching tonight or watching this later to simply look at this ss n a vacuum as saying that we're just disagreing with a policy and there was a diplomatic outreach given and we're not giving it an opportunity. i think from where i'm from and i know you are as well, the path is prologue to what happens now. i think what we've got to understand is the regime has not inherently changed. the regime in iran still has just core issues with the west
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and especially with israel. i think you hit it perfectly and before i continue you brought it up again. the idea of these negotiations were not to find a placated middle. the desire is to find an end to the iranian nuclear regime because we just don't trust them. i think that's an inherent problem. let's look at it here from a perspective. the iranian president was afforded a great opportunity to show a stark contrast between himself and the former iranian president ahmadinejad. he was asked whether he believed the holocaust was a myth. he answered, i am a -- i am not a historian, i am a politician. netanyahu responded it doesn't take a historian to recognize the existence of the holocaust. it just requires being a human being. he's captive to the religious se lots in his couldn't rid and the supreme rule of ayatollah
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khomeini. when the white house offered the opportunity for the newly elected iranian president to shake hands with the -- with our president, his staff declined because of the fear of how it would be perceived in iran. think about that a second. if a handshake can be turned into political gangrene for the iranian president, how can we believe that any of their diplomatic overtures will result in real change? i don't want the u.s. to go down the same path with iran it did with north korea. in 2005 it was seen as a landmark deal. north korea agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program in return for economic security and energy benefits. 12 months later, the north korea tested its first nuclear weapon. let's not forget the immortal precept, fool me once, let's not be fooled twice. i'd like to take time to highlight a few points from prime minister netanyahu's speech before the u.n., it occurred nearly a week after
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the iranian president spoke before the international body. before that, i want to yield back to my friend from illinois and just as we continue this conversation, again, history matters. and what has gone on in the past, i believe, is very crucial in understand whige many of us on the hill bipartisanly do not trust the iranian regime and i yield to my friend. mr. schneider: thank you. i think it's critical to emphasize the bipartisan aspect of the support in congress for a sanctioned regime and the security and protection of our allies, in particular israel. as my colleague mentioned, in october, i with luke messer authored a letter to the president calling on him to push forward with sanctions. there were 78 members of the freshman class who signed on to that letter, republican and democrat, standing shoulder to shoulder, saying we must be strong. again this can't be -- the interim agreement cannot move
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to anything near what is a permanent agreement. more importantly, it cannot lead to the collapse of the sanctions regime. we've worked too hard and come too far to let that happen. in my opinion, i think we need to ensure that the architecture of the sanctions are reinforced, are wrodened, are deepened and hardened so that six months from now, if iran fails to live up to its commitments and the consequences are sufficiently severe, iran understands that the likelihood of further action, all actions on the table, including a credible military threat, remain. so that ultimately iran understands this is the moment, this is the time to abandon their nuclear aspirations. this is why the sanctions are put in place. this is why it's critical for the senate to pass the bill we passed in july and make sure iran understands that not adhearing to the agreement, not abandoning its knew leer program will have dire
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consequences in six months. i yield back. mr. collins: i appreciate the gentleman. it's a matter of now. this has been going on for a while. this is not built up just over the last couple of weeks, this has been a problem with iran for, you know, going on years now, they've been building this program and really bunkering this program now, which i think when you call for transparency highlights the need that it is amazing now that all of a sudden they want to be open but yet they only want to be open in a way that they control but they d want the money. i mean, i think it goes back to -- we can go back to the american film, show me the min. show me the money, show me iran's intention at this point. they want the money that's been held up by sanctions. why? because the sanctions have worked this administration needs to understand, the sanctions are worked. they have worked in a way that we have not seen before. it is not time to abandon those. as i mentioned -- mentioned a few minutes ago, i wanted to
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take israeli prime minister netanyahu's speech, if you've not had a chance to hear it, i know my colleague has, many times we talk about problems but don't offer sloughs. i think what he did is not only highlight the problems with this administration in iran but also gave solutions as well. i want to look at it for just a moment. netanyahu starred the speech discussing the rich history of the jewish and persian nations. for those who remember, in my case a sunday school class, over 2,000 years ago, the babylonian empire released the captive jews to develop a homeland of their own this historic friendship lasted until a radical regime came to pow for the 1979. yet netanyahu pointed out how unlikely it is that the iranian president is a moderate. he was one of six candidated selected by the regime to run for office. that's six out of 700 candidates who desired to run he led the iranian version of
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the c.i.a. and n.s.a. during his time leading iran's supreme national security council, 5 people were murdered at a jewish community cent for the argentina by iranian henchmen. iran has its fingerprints on the bombing of the khobar owers, killing 19 american soldiers, he was the chief nuclear negotiator between 2003 and 2005. he never changed his approach in increasing his nuclear proliferation capabilities. netanyahu cites a book rouhani wrote in which he wrote, while we were talking to the europeans in tehran, we were installing equipment. isn't that a telling thought right there? rouhani out tos his negotiation skills by saying, by creating a calm environment, a calm environment, we were able to complete the work.
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in the facility where the ranian ore is turned into an enrichability form. iran has built two secret facilities. several years later it was caught building a station underground. if iran is only seeking peaceful nuclear energy, why is it building structures that way? well, mr. speaker, i think the obvious answer there is clear. netanyahu also asked why iran is trying to develop international, intercontinental ballistic missiles if not to further its nuclear ambitions. icbm's are purposefully designed to be a transportation vehicle for a nuclear weapon. as netanyahu pointed out, you don't build those to carry t.n.t. thousands of miles away. the prime minister's clearly troubled in light of the u.s. history with north korea, just like north korea before it, iran professes to seemingly peaceful intentions it. talks the talk of nonproliferation while seeking to sanctions and buying time for
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its nuclear program. has derstands that america the same negotiating table and blicked. instead of -- blinked. netanyahu offers a solution. he lays out steps to the iranian regime can make to show a willingness to negotiate and possibly have sanctions lifted. netanyahu proposes four steps for iran. some that we need to look at as well. number one, ending all iranian enrichment. number two, removing its eneventtory of enriched uranium, similar to syria handling over its chemical weapons, dismantling its infrastructure for nuclear breakout capability and supporting all -- stopping all work at a heavy water reactor in iraq aimed at production of plutonium. these steps would seize iran's nuclear -- cease iran's nuclear weapons program. netanyahu does not just lead the ball though in iran's court and
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this is something to look at it. does take both parties. and he says this. he says, the international community should, for assistance, to ensure iran's compliance he laid out a three-point strategy. first, keep up the sanctions. if iran advances its nuclear weapons program during negotiations, strengthen the sanctions. that's sort of the way it works. i know, you know, when i need something and get out of line, you get pulled back in. you don't get more freedom just by saying you're going to do something more. i know your children and my children alike in dealing with that issue, look ahead. there are more restrictions if you don't do something right. that's a great first step. second, don't agree to a partial deal. a partial deal would lift sanctions that have taken years to put in place in exchange for cosmetic concessions that will take only weeks to -- for iran to reverse. and third, lift the sanctions only when iran fully dismantles its nuclear program. netanyahu concluded his speech
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in what a conciliatory tone. he said, i'm prepared to make a historic compromise for genuine and enduring peace but i will never compromise on the security of my people and of my country, the one and only jewish state. considering israel's hostile neighbors, i understand the prime minister's vigilant tone. the u.s. is strongly -- has strongly supported israel's resolve in the past and i hope this administration will not relent. israel has the most to lose if iran gets the bomb. and that's something we can never forget. with that i yield back to my friend. >> thank you again. and you hit on a crucial point. for israel, a nuclear iran is a threat. it is life and death at the front lines. but also as you touched on, israel has no greater friend than the united states. scribe scribe and that relationship is -- mr. snyder: we have no better llies.
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mr. schneider: it's also important to understand the depth and scoach iran's program. -- the scope of iran's program. that is a program that has spread throughout the country. from, isfan and ultimately in the weaponization a area. that's the second piece, is weaponization. it's one thing to control the fuel cycle, it's another thing to turn that into a nuclear weapon. iran is working aggressively to do that. and this deal does not address their weaponization programs. and finally, once you control the fuel cycle, once you're able to have a weapon, it's delivery. iran, with their intercontinental ballistic missiles, icbm's, is working to develop a capability to deliver such a weapon of mass destruction, not just in its
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region, but throughout the world. israel, iran for israel is an exiss tension threat but iran for the region and iran for the sworled an extreme a threat as it is for israel. we must prevent a nuclear iran not just because israel is our ally but because nuclear iran is a threat to the whole region. a threat to nuclear destabilization, a nuclear arms race among other countries in the region, and that's what we're focused on. that's why it's so critical that this moment, as iran is months away from capability of having a nuclear weapon, we focus aggressively on closing the pathways. freezing, reversing and dismanltling and ultimately permanently blocking any pathway iran has for a nuclear weapon. with that i yield back to my friend from georgia. mr. collins: i thank the gentleman. one of the things that mazes me is that we are so -- amazes me is that we are so close and getting closer every day for their capability to be -- for lack of a better term,
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perfected. they've been working at it, they've been hiding it, they've been doing you those things. now to come at this last moment and really give an infusion of cash, which is what they're going to be getting, to the billions of dollars tune, and to continue to allow the enrichment process to continue is just really dispushing -- disturbing here. i'm not seeing the end game except that, you know, for my perspective, there was the old philosophy, there was the old foreign policy of one of my parties -- party's heroes and one who served his country well and it was ronald reagan when he said that foreign policy was, we win, you lose. i think at this point what's concerning me is in this deal, we lose, they win, and the rest of the world is put in jeopardy. and you made a great statement. not only is israel and iran a threat to israel, i've often heard, why do we worry about iran? that's another country. why do we need to get involved? because it is a direct and immediate threat to the u.s. as
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well. we have troops within missile range. we have troops that are in international waters, that would be -- could be literally affected by the military force in iran. i think those are issues that we've got to address, as we move forward. it's not something that we can just put in its little corner. iran in some ways is much different than north korea. with their assets and with their capabilities and we can't deny where they are in the world. and i think that's the concern that i have with this administration. that's why we're here tonight talking about this. and i want to discuss some more about this, but i will yield back to my friend. shideshide thank you. the question -- mr. schneider: thank you. the question, why do we care about iran? many people in my community understand that when someone makes a threat to annihilate another country, you listen to the threat. when we were in israel, 37 members, democrat members, traveled to israel in august,
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followed by a comparable sized group of republican members, on our trip we had a chance to hear from former chief of intelligence and he made the statement that the only threat to israel is the marriage of ideology of destruction with nuclear capability. we face that threat now. that's why over the last decade we have worked diligently to create the architecture of the sanctions regime that did indeed bring iran to the negotiating table. this joint agree agreement -- interim agreement keeps the sanctions regime in place. over the next six months, it's our responsibility, the united states, the united states congress, our allies, to make sure that that sanctioned regime not only stays in place, but stays robust and becomes stronger so that, again, iran understands the challenges. i've said many times that history's going to judge us with one question on iran.
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did we prevent iran from having a nuclear weapon? this moment in history faces us at this moment in time. this agreement must not be allowed to be permanent. the united states and our allies must ensure that iran does not further move down the path to nuclear capability. iran is estimated to be months, a most a year, away from nuclear weapon. the next six months, if we're going to enforce this agreement, must make sure that iran doesn't get any closer, not one moment, not one month, not one inch. this agreement has to be put in place in such a way that we can guarantee iran is not moving forward. what do some of those running backses require from us? what i hope to do in the foreign affairs committee, together with my republican colleagues, is try to create a specific understanding of the timetables for implementation. the joint agreement doesn't lay that out. i want to know what are the milestones, what are the expectations and deliverables
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that iran must arrive at, at each milestone? what's the proof we're going to require of iran to demonstrate that they've achieved the specifications of the agreement at the specified time? and, most importantly, what are the consequences if iran doesn't achieve its milestones, if iran uses its agreement to even start or try to delay? we need to make sure we stay vigilant, we stay diligent to ensure that iran can't move forward on its aspirations for a nuclear weapon. with that i yield back to my colleague. mr. collins: you're exactly correct, in how we move forward. when you put aspirational goals out there you're going to get aspirational results sometimes and that means nothing. that's why i see this agreement right now. but i want to take, again, i believe that not only do you have the what and the reasons, but there's also sort of the why factor. i talked about that a lot from both sides out. that many times we might talk about the why a lot but i want to talk just for a moment in
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some things we're doing as well, israel and our relationships, just from a why perspective. why this matters so much and the history that we have, for some who may be listening. because the u.s. and israeli relationship really goes back to after world war ii. and it has become apparent to the international community the jews needed a homeland of their own and in 1948 president harry truman recognized the state of israel. during the cold war israel was a key ally in stopping the thread of -- threat of communism in the world. we had a joint interest in defeating agressers in the middle east, seeking to influence their neighbors and disrupt the status quo, especially if they had moscow's backing. president john f. kennedy told the israeli prime minister, the united states has a special relationship with israel in the middle east, really comparable only to what it has with britton, over a wide range of world affairs. since that bonding experience, the u.s. and israel have approached the strategy as a region as a team. as a team.
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over the five major arab-israeli military conflicts that have occurred over the decades, the one that highlights the u.s.-israeli union the most is the yam kippur war. in this conflict israel was fighting the usual suspects, egypt to the seevet, along the sinai peninsula, and syria to the north. this joint ar ab initiative garnered the military support of jordan and iraq while egyptians received military hardware from the soviet union. egypt and syria lost launched a surprise attack on october 6, 1973, which was israel's most holy day, yam kippur, the day of atonement. the war inflicted heavy initial losses on israel's army and our air force and by october 8 . rael was in serious jeopardy a quick call was made to washington. the operation to resupply israel began. code name, operation nicholgrass. by the end of nicholgrass, the u.s. shipped tons of material to israel. israel received between 34 and
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40 fighter bomber, 12 c-130's car-go pleens, eight helicopters and tons more of missiles and artillery pieces. it was one of the largest airlifts in u.s. history. the total cost of the military hardware delivered is estimated to be $4.14 billion. the airlift was a major shift in u.s.-israeli relations, it brought about a greater u.s. involvement in middle east affairs and after the yam kippur war, the united states quadrupled its foreign aid to israel and replaced france as israel's largest arms supplier. . the doctrine of maintaining israel's military edge over its neighbors is said to have originated in this war. this is where you and i, my colleague, stepped in. i find this commonsense doctrine very important and aim to strengthen it be the legislation we introduced, the israeli q.m.e. enhancement act. it requires the president to report to congress every two years the status of military
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sales to mideast countries other than israel. it ebb sures that congress is able to maintain oversight of military sales in the region. it also expands the scope to bring to attention cyberand other warfare. during the yom kippur war, israel needed conventional weapons. in the 21st century wars are being fought in cyberspace. israel has stood out as the only country in the mideast that promotes democratic, free market principles, much like the u.s., israel has an independent judicial system that protects the rights of individuals. israel is governed by the rule of law and safeguards the freedoms of speech, press, and religion. as the u.s. attempted to encourage ashe nations to develop a transparent society they need to look no further than their democratic neighbor. i want to pause right there and
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again yield to my friend as we continue this conversation and move forward on why this matters and bringing up these ideas of a relationship that's deeply rooted in history and of mutual sharing and not one going seemingly behind the back of the other. mr. schneider: you talk about the relationship. as you noted, harry s. trow truman was the first -- harry s. truman was the first to recognize the state of israel after the british left. immediately upon its declaration of independence, israel was attacked by five nations. throughout its history, israel has faced hostility from its neighbors throughout the region. since 1973 in the yom kippur war, as a 12-year-old boy, i remember vividly coming out of synagogue that day, sitting in the back seat of my parents' car, listening to the radio, not knowing if israel was going to survive. it was an intiss ten rble
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threat. israel d states and have had an unbreakable relationship that continues to be to this very day an unbreakable, important, critically important relationship. right now the relationship between the united states and israel has never been better. across a whole variety of aspects. sharing of intelligence, sharing of military expertise, united states has helped and israel a veloped with system and helped fund the iron dome which proved to be a game changer in the war in gaza, exactly a year ago this month. in that war, you'll recall, rockets rained down on southern israel from gaza. yet the iron dome system was able to intercept virtually all of those rockets, allowing israel to avoid having to invade gaza by land and
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achieving its goals, saving countless lives on both sides of the border. if the u.s. -- it's the u.s.-israel relationship that allowed the development of iron dome and others. but i'm also proud we were able to work together and i thank you for your support for the israel qualitative military edge enhancement act. what used to take four years of review at a time when changes in military capabilities are accelerating at an unprecedented pace, this act reduces to two years. as you said, what used to be focused on strictly conventional weaponry understands that the current conflicts are taking place as much in cyberspace as air space and ground. it's critical that israel maintain its critical advantage, its qualitative military edge and all aspects of that. i was particularly proud that the foreign affairs committee unanimously voted that bill to come to the floor and i hope we'll take it up here shortly as well.
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but the relationship between the united states and israel is far more than military insecurity. we share values, we share understanding and science, developments of new medical technologies, medicines, capabilities, developments ining a curlture, the relationship between the united states and israel is so strong because we share so much and we understand that even on the security level, as much as israel relies on the united states, the united states has enefited from israel's security measures as well. one thing no -- one must think no further than the iraq war and go back to 1981 when israel , against world con tell nation, attacked the nuclear reactor and can only think what would have happened in 1991 or in 2003 when the united states had their own conflict with iraq if iraq had had nuclear weapons. the u.s.-israel relationship is critical, it has been that way
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for the 65 years of israel's existence, it's been incredibly important since 1973, we wouldn't have the camp david accords of 1979 and the peace between israel and egypt if not for the u.s. engagement. we wouldn't have the peace between israel and jordan if not for the work of the u.s. administrations. as critical as we stand here fighting so hard for american security, fighting so hard against a nuclear i aye ran that we understand that the mutual relationship between the united states and israel is a critical component of that. mr. collins: you hit on it, it is going back to the partnership, that's the best way to describe it, the partnership between the u.s. and israel. in so many ways the values we share that you spoke of. many thing that was come about out of our relationship over the years to not only benefit each country but the world around. most recently, israel has been instrumental in assisting the
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u.s. in the global war on terrorism. since 9/11, u.s. and israel have formed a strategic partnership to face a new and challenging world. e united states have partnerships to prevent the spread of radical islamic theology and cyberwarfare. there's cooperation on a wide range of intelligence sharing programs that monitor actions in the mideast. the united states and israel have strengthened their homeland security partnership and worked on border, port, and other security. it improves the security of both nations. israel has provided technical assistance in protecting u.s. troops as they fight u.s. organizations. currently carried in soldier's first aid kit is an israeli bandage that cauterizes on contact. as someone who served in iraq
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and worked with our army, i have seen this save lives. it is a bonding between our couldn't two countries. israeli developed the joint helmet mounting cuing system that allows pilots to hang sensors and -- to aim sensors and weapons wherever the pilot is looking. a specialist in armor provided protection for u.s. armored vehicles used in afghanistan. it combats against rocket propelled grenade attacks. several tactical ballistic missile systems developed components in the u.s. patriot missile, another israeli invention saving lives is radio freakedcy device that detects i.e.d. as someone who saw the horror , that's a great thing. you've mentioned the antiballistic missile, the iron
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dome, our two militaries come together in missile defense training, including the by enall cobra exercisele to practice tactics to counter the threat of ballistic missiles. it was combined with the largest joint bimilitary exercise conducted between two allied forces. but you see our relationship is not just linked by defensive and security operations. we're engaged in cooperative efforts concerning energy, which is often not talked about. this is why it's so important to me and important to the world. it's not just a one-sided relationship. it is a partnership that we both can benefit from. both countries realize that the ha -- realize the hazards of being too dependent on isle oil. a cooperative afweem was signed to produce alternative energy sources this adwreement brought together the use department of energy and israel's ministry of energy and water resources. it generated $20 million in
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private sector investment in such areas as smart grid management and alternative fuels. the investment in this joint rogram yielded greater investment. this is truly an equal partnership. bright source energy, a company that operates in the u.s. and israel is developing the largest solar thermal energy product using tech knowledge -- technology developed in israel. when the plant is operational it will produce enough electricity to power 140,000 american homes. recently a large natural gas field was discovered off the shore of israel. a company out of houston is working with them to develop this. these partnerships strengthen their bonds. the u.s.-israeli economic partnerships is one of the most
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unique for the u.s. our first free trade agreement th the nation of israel in 1995. u.s. and israel trade has grown by 500% and exceeds $7 billion daily. more israeli countries are traded on the nasdaq of any country outside the united states or china. u.s. firms such as intel, microsoft, google, apple, select israel as one of their top destinations for research. the free market environment in israel is such that it attracts businesses to invest and grow but you see, even berkshire hathaway invests in israel. when asked about why warren buffett invests in israel he answered that the economic spirit of both the u.s. and israel is what makes it a no nonsense investment. investment isn't one-sided. israeli companies have invested
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more than $50 billion in the u.s. between 2000 and 2009. more than 15 u.s. states maintain offices in israel. and also not just economic, not just military but in humanitarian aid as well. assistance was provided by israel to hurricanes katrina and sandy and the refugees in rwanda. israel established field hospitals and several doctors and nurses were sent with medical supplies and vaccinations. they provided water in sudan. n kits 1,800 personnel and supplies were sent to japan in the wake of the earthquake. they sent people and structures to haiti to aid after their earthquake. it is still hard for me to
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believe that we're here tonight talking about an agreement that has the potential for such great harm, to not only ourselves but to such a good ally and a partner. with that, i yield back to the gentleman. mr. shid -- mr. schneider: thank you. as we wrap up, let me express my sincerest fwrat for allowing me to participate in this special order to talk about two critically important issues, our unbreakable special relationship with the free, independent jewish state of israel and our necessary commitment to ensure that iran never, ever is allowed to get a nuclear weapon capability. these two things come together at this moment in a crucial way and i'm reminded as we close of a famous saying by rabbi hillel, an ancient scholar. as you touched on, the united
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states and israel share more than just a security arrangement. they share more than technology even though a lot of company you mentioned, apple, intel, google, have more research dollars invested in israel than any country outside the united states. both countries, i'm proud to say our united states and israel, have a sense of an obligation to give back to the rest of the world. to lean in, to make a difference in people's lives. we talked about haiti and one of the stories i've always loved is one of the first relief ships to make it to haiti was an israel field hospital and there's a story about a woman who was giving birth shortly after the earthquake and she named her child israel in honor of the doctors who flew in from he will avive immediately after the -- from tel aviv immediately after the earthquake because they understood the need for emergency care.
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but they were joined by the efforts of our sewn soldiers, united states soldiers who understood in our own hemisphere and around the world the need to lend a hand when people are in need. we see the same in the philippines after the tragic typhoon. you saw american ships coming from nearby and you saw israelis and americans coming from far away. those are the types of things that unite us. as rabbi hillel said, if i am not for myself, who will be? but if i'm only for myself, what am i? but the third line in his saying i think is crucial at this moment as we look to iran. if not now, when? we need to make sure that the united states, the p-5 plus one and our regional allies, can come together and guarantee that iran does not become a nuclear-capable country. we need to make sure the regional security is maintained and the nuclear weapon is prevented.
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that's our role. that's how history will judge us and that's why we're here talking tonight. so again i thank you from the bottom of my heart. i thank you for the work we've done together. it is a privilege to work with you. i look forward to working together on other issues including this. with that i yield back. mr. collins: i appreciate my friend for being here tonight. you have added so much to this debate tonight. but also to your time here in standing up for what we both feel is a very important role in the american-israeli relationship. you see, mr. speaker, i believe the -- that israel is an ally well worth protecting. we recognize and understand the serious threat posed to israel, both from nation states such as iran, as well as radical islamic terrorist groups like hamas, hezbollah and al qaeda. u.s.-israel corporation helps ensure that israel will remain a shining example of what democratic ideals and a freedom-loving society can achieve.
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i agree with my friend. iran cannot be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. that is not a negotiating point. that is just a fact. and when we understand that, i real solutions, ith real triggers, with real timelines to dismantling a program that has not been based on a freedom-loving people just wanting an energy source. but has been based on deception, has been based on deceit and has been based on an underlying hatred of the west and especially of israel. we cannot let that happen and i pray that this administration and the others who have joined in this agreement do not fall victim to a pretty p.r. campaign. when we understand that, israel has been a beacon of liberty,
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despite the reigns of dispots all around them -- despots all around them. the best way to thwart extremist ideals is to say it -- is to stay free. god bless this union and the united states. i thank the gentleman from illinois, my friend, for being here and for the wo the work that we have done together and i look forward to the bill coming to this floor and passing to the senate and seeing the president sign it as a good-faith effort to show that his commitment is there for israel as well. and i look forward to that day being with you as that happens. and with that i'd yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced the of january 3, 2013, gentleman from nevada, mr. horsford, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
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mr. horsford: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members be given five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. horsford: mr. speaker, i and before you today proudly co-anchoring, along with the distinguished gentleman from the silver state, my good friend, representative horsford, co-anchoring the c.b.c. special order. mr. jeffries: what we've termed throughout the year our hour of power. where for 60 minutes we have an opportunity to speak directly to the american people about issues of great significance that affect the folks back home in our congressional districts and in many instances impact the entire nation. day we've gathered here to look back at the issues that members of the c.b.c. have tackled individually and
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collectively throughout the year on behalf of the american people . but we look back in order to look forward. as we anticipate the challenges that we confront in the next year, an a whole variety of issues. throughout the year we've come to the floor, every monday that we have been in session, to address a great many issues of significance to the american people. we came to the floor to deal with comprehensive immigration reform in early february. then we addressed the need to preserve section five of the voting rights act. during the week in which the supreme court was holding oral argument. we cronlted the challenges in and around sequestration. presented the c.b.c. people's budget which sets forth the more
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progressive way forward in order to deal with the economic challenges that we crobt confront in this country -- that we confront in this country. we addressed health care disparities. the student loan crisis. poverty and income inequality in america. entrepreneurship. we had the opportunity to reflect and celebrate the life and the legacy of a former distinguished member of this august body, representative bill gray from the great state of pennsylvania. we reviewed economic security through the labor movements, stood up of course for the affordable care act, addressed the debt ceiling and the need not to hold the american economy hostage. we crobted -- confronted hunger in america and the absolute moral imperative to stop the more than $39 billion in cuts that our friends on the other side of the aisle would like to ake to the snap program.
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these are the issues that throughout this year we've taken to the floor of the house of representatives to talk directly to the american people about. the issues that we are working on on their behalf. and today i'm pleased that so many distinguished members of the c.b.c. have come to join us, including the distinguished chairperson who has led us admirably, with great courage and intelligence and clarity throughout the entire year, and i'm now pleased to be able to yield to the distinguished gentle lady from ohio -- gentlelady from ohio, the chair person of the congressional black caucus, representative marcia fudge. ms. fudge: thank you so very much. thank you, congressman jeffries, for yielding. i would like to take this teement -- i would like to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues, congressman jeffries and horsford, for leading this
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special order hour and for leading 16 c.b.c. special order hours this year. it has been a pleasure to listen to you both. the information that you have shared with the american public is to be commended and i thank you both. because week after week you have led the c.b.c. in discussions at promote an -- promote increased opportunity, justice and a better america for all americans. i ask my colleagues to join me in saluting you both for bringing our message to the american people. mr. speaker, 2013 has been a challenging year. partisan gridlock has made this year one of the least productive in the history of the u.s. congress. to date, congress has passed only 52 bills into law. and if you remove the ceremonial legislation, that number shrinks to 42. almost matching the 41 laws passed in 2011, which was to date the least productive year
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in the history of the congress. it is far too easy to simply point fingers. but this much is clear. congress is failing the american people. partisan grandstanding has paralyzed our legislative branch, leaving our country unable to move forward to prepare for a rapidly changing and uncertain world. facing widespread economic and political instability, america looks to congress for leadership. the c.b.c. has risen to this challenge. working with both sides of the aisle and both chambers of congress. this year the c.b.c. addressed the government shutdown, our federal budget process, gun violence, voting rights, justice reform, education reform and so much more. the members of the c.b.c. also led efforts to directly engage underserved communities on behalf of the affordable care act, to improve the judicial
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nomination and confirmation process, discussing the pressing issues related to immigration reform, especially for those of the african diaspora. nd we convened a summit on the culture of violence in our communities. i am proud of the c.b.c. for our bipartisan solution-oriented approach to the most pressing issues facing our country. and despite the tough legislative environment, the c.b.c. consistently looks to build coalitions and enact solutions that will benefit all americans. unfortunately a deep divided congress has prevented america from reaping the benefits of our efforts. as we move into next year, congress must end our crisis-oriented budget cycle. our inability to ebled the sequester, to move -- to end the sequester, to move past the failed policy of us a ter itity and generate new sources of
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revenue which will generate new sources of rev knew -- revenue, will leave all but the very wealthy behind. we are a great nation, but we cannot sustain our standing unless we end the partisan political gamesmanship. and live up to the promise of america. working together we can create a more prosperous america, where the only ceilings to our potential are the limits of our own imagination. mr. speaker, in two weeks the first session of the 113th congress will come to a close. it will be the end of a congress marked with missed opportunities and hyperpartisan games. the congressional black caucus is prepared to make 2014 the year congress moves beyond the partisan politics of years past, end our legislative paralysis and restore faith in our government and prosperity back to the american people. i yield back. mr. jeffries: i thank the distinguished chairperson of the c.b.c. for her thoughtful and
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eloquent remarks. and certainly for making the of the at we as members c.b.c. have come to washington to try to make a difference on behalf of the people that we represent back home and the entire nation. we came to work together to try and find common ground, to promote solutions for the american people in the face of the difficult challenges that we've confronted. we didn't come to deal with a government shutdown that cost the economy $24 billion in lost economic productivity and this constant obsession with the affordable care act and the consistent effort to delay, defund or destroy, the opportunity to give tens of millions of otherwise uninsured access to health care. so hopefully as the first session of the 113th congress winds to a close and we move toward the opportunity to get some things done next year, we
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n find our way toward a more productive second half of the 113th congress. so i'm pleased that we have been joined by the distinguished architect of the congressional black caucus budget, as well as a member of the judiciary committee, who has worked hard on issues of social and economic justice and he's here today to share with the american people the work that the c.b.c. has done on putting forth a more progressive inclusionary budget that works for working families, middle class americans and seniors, i yield now to representative bobby scott from virginia. mr. scott: thank you. mr. speaker, i want to thank the gentleman from new york and the gentleman from nevada and the chair from ohio for their strong work and particularly for talking about some of the things that the congressional black caucus has accomplished over the last year. i wanted to take an opportunity to highlight the c.b.c.'s work
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on advocating a responsible budget, offering responsible solutions to address the budget deficit, cancel the sequester and grow the economy. last march we offered our budget for fiscal year 2014 as an alternative to the budget that was adopted by the house. the c.b.c. budget makes tough choices. but not at the expense of our most vulnerable communities. the c.b.c. budget offers a concrete plan that both cancels the economically disastrous sequester and then pays for that cancellation. our budget is able to do so while also protecting social security, medicare, medicaid, snap nutrition benefits and other vital safety net programs that protect millions of americans from poverty. c.b.c. budget also reduces the nation's budget deficit by approximately $2.8 trillion over the next decade, compared to the
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february baseline calculated by the congressional budget office. other ideas have been presented in the past to either cancel the sequester or reduce the deficit. they almost always include significant cuts to social security and medicare. these ideas have included changing the way the social security benefits are calculated, the so-called chained c.p.i. which reduces the cost of living benefits, or raising the age of eligibility for medicare from 65 to 67. the c.b.c. budget is able to pay for the cancellation of the sequester and reduce the budget deficit without these harmful cuts to social security and medicare. our budget is in strark contrast to the republican budget that passed the house earlier this year this budget -- that budget claimed to reduce the deficit by $4.6 trillion over the next decade by making draconian spending cuts in nondefense
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discretionary spending and unspecified savings in mandatory spending. that's the category that is mostly comprised of social security and medicare. they're going to get savings better known as cuts. a that budget also included tax cut that was paid for with an asterisk, meaning the ways and means committee and appropriations committee would have to figure out how to fill the $5.7 trillion hole. arithmetic requires you to recognize you can only fill the hole by either raising taxes or additional cuts. now we know that republicans are opposed to tax increases and the only real big ticket item left that could come anywhere close to filling that hole would be social security and medicare. the only thing on the table left to pay for that the c.b.c. budget does not include an ast
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risk or other budget gimmicks. our budget outlines a concrete plan that makes tough choices and presents credible options to achieve our budget reduction targets. the c.b.c. budget calls for revenue enhancements totaling $2.7 trillion over the next decade. our budget outline house the house ways and means committee and the senate finance committee can reach this number by highlighting several revenue options totaling $4.2 trillion that could be used to reach the $2. trillion revenue target. these revenue options include $1.1 trillion that can be obtained by limiting deductibility of corporate interest payments, $1 trillion closing special tax breaks and corporate loopholes, over $00 billion by taxing capital gains and dividends as ordinary income, almost half a trillion by having a 5.4% surcharge on
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that portion of our income over $1 trillion. over $00 million speculators tax of one quarter of one percent on wall street trades. $200 billion by ending the bush era tax cuts on that portion of your income over $250,000. returning to the estate tax exemption that was in exist innocence 2009, over $100 billion and over $100 billion by reducing the tax gap through better enforcement of the i.r.s. code. those are specifics. they may be unpopular but at least they're specific. in stark contrast to go find $5.7 trillion unspecified that the republican budget included. the revenue enhancements provided in the c.b.c. budget would allow congress to totally cancel the sequester and pass a jobs package of at least $500 billion, at 50,000 each that's
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over 10 million jobs that could be created in one year with a jobs bill of that magnitude, almost enough to hire everybody drawing unemployment today. provide an additional $300 billion in long-term investments in our economy and education, job training, health care and advanced science and research. as i said earlier the reforms contained in the c.b.c. budget would reduce the deficit $2. trillion over the next decade compared to c.b.o.'s baseline that would put our nation on a strong, sustainable path. all without jeopardizing programs that support our seniors and programs that educate the next generation of leaders in business, science and technology. as we move forward to 2014 and the next budget deadline the congressional black caucus will continue to advocate these priorities in our budget. it is imperative that congress pass a budget that expands economic opportunity, invests in the american people and
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reduces our deficit. the c.b.c. budget presents a concrete plan backed by actual number, not ast risks, that shows how to reduce our deficit while not being required to make further cuts in vital programs that support our nation's safety net, especially social security and medicare. most importantly, the c.b.c. budget presents a clear path toward both economic prosperity and fiscal responsibility for our nation. i want to thank the c.b.c. budget for the opportunity to work on this budget because it is a responsible budget, does the right thing and it has specifics that you can actually look at, in stark contrast to the ast risks, grmics and other assumptions that cannot be fulfilled without going into social security and medicare that the republican budget has. yield back.
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mr. jeffries: i thank the for eman and thank him talking about the two different version that was been set forth between the republican budget and the c.b.c. budget. the c.b.c. intudget designed to promote progress for the many. the budget presented by the house majority is designed to promote, in our view, prosperity for the few. the c.b.c. budget creates a balanced approach to deficit reduction that invests in the economy, protects important social safety net programs, like social security and medicare, the house g.o.p. budget balances itself on the backs of working family the poor, the most vulnerable americans in our society and that i believe is the wrong approach to take as it relates to the well being of the american people. so i thank the distinguished gentleman for his thoughts and
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his work on that progressive document that the c.b.c. has put forth. it's now my honor to yield to our distinguished co-anchor for the c.b.c. special order, who has been with us throughout the year, anchoring, articulating, putting forth the c.b.c. vision on a vast array of issues important to our districts and to the american people, and today i believe he is going to speak to us about the work that he has led in partnership with other members of the c.b.c. and folks on our side of the aisle for fair, racially inclusive, and equitable america. so let me yield to my good friend, representative steven horsford. mr. horsford: thank you. i'd like to thank you, mr. speaker, and to my good friend this from the state of new york, one of the great
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pleasures of being a member of this body is getting to know colleagues from across the state and we have a dynamic freshman class, five member whorsfrshmen in the congressional black caucus and it has been my honor to co-anchor this hour of the special order for the congressional black caucus with my esteemed colleague, the gentleman from new york, mr. jeffries. i'd like to commend him for his tremendous leadership on a breadth of issues that have come before this congress and even recently in his role as a member of the judiciary committee, some legislation we'll be considering just this week is going to happen because this member has worked across the aisle to bring people together to try to seek common ground. it's what we need more of, mr. speaker. you know, one of the things we're doing here tonight is reflecting after a year in this 113th congress. i'm a new member.
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i've been here now, like i said, for just over a year after being elected. and my constituents back home in nevada asked ask me often what is it like to be a member of congress? do you feel good about what it is you're able to accomplish. and you know it is an honor. it's a great honor to serve the people of nevada's fourth congressional district here, in the people's house, the house of representatives, and it's a great honor and i'm proud to be a member of the congressional black caucus which has colleagues who are some of the most committed proponents of progressive social and progressive economic justice legislation that comes before this congress. but as honorable as this position is, as proud of a moment that it is for me personally, when i hear the statist exs that were read by
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our chairwoman, chair fudge that less than 50 bills that have been passed by congress have become law, that's rather frustrating. and it's frustrating to the american public. prior to coming to congress, i served in the state legislature in nevada. we only meet every other year for four months. do you know, mr. speaker, in four months, in 120 days, we considered and passed approximately 1,000 bills, think about that. e state can consider and approve approximately 1,000 bills in 120 days every other year but 435 members in the house of representatives in more than a year have been able to accomplish less than 50 bills becoming law. that's why the american public is so frustrated and so, while i reflect on this year, there
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is areas that i'm proud of and accomplishments that we have made but unfortunately there are bill that was been proposed that have not moved and legislation that is still pending in this body and so my hope is that as we reflect on this first year in the 113th congress that it will challenge us as members to come prepared in 2014 to get the people's job done. and there are a number of key bills that we need to focus on and as my colleague has talked about, we have fought to ensure our justice system is more fair and protects all citizens equally under the law. we have fought to increase access to affordable health care, something that is desperately needed for millions upon millions of americans. our leaders have worked to fight to preserve and protect the important social safety
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nets like snap benefits and medicare and medicaid because we have made it our mission to protect america's most vulnerable citizens. we have time and time again called for the sequester to be ended. i just met with constituents in my district in nevada who said, please, don't allow a government shutdown to happen again in january. don't allow these cuts under the sequester, the second round of cuts, which would be even more harmful, let alone the first round to take hold. and so despite these areas, there is work to be done. one of the issues that i've been particularly involved with, as members of this congressional black caucus has been immigration reform. the need for comprehensive immigration reform. and i have -- i am proud to have served as one of the co-chairs along with my colleague mr. jeffries and
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representative clark, also from new york, as co-chairs of the congressional black caucus' immigration reform task force. we have worked tirelessly with other house democrats to craft a bipartisan, commonsense bill, h r. 15, which aims to begin fixing our broken immigration system, it would grow our economy, we know, by 5% in just two decades. we deuce our deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. create thousands of jobs. and most importantly, mr. speaker, it would bring millions of people out of the shadows and into society. including thousands of dreamers. by creating a pathway to citizenship. all the while showing up our border security. as a member of the homeland security committee, i know my colleague mr. jeffries on the judicial committee, we have worked time and time again on legislation to bring forward
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proposeles on comprehensive immigration reform. so we are asking our colleagues on the other side to join with us to make these things possible. to not just talk about it, to not be proud or pleased with just 50 bills being passed by one of the most least productive congresses in history but to actually accomplish things that the american public expects us to accomplish. another top priority that i'd like to talk about this evening, mr. speaker, that we've been working on with my colleagues in the congressional black caucus is preventing racial profiling practices in our law enforcement that have been hurting individuals across the country. our citizens deserve to live free from fear. especially among those whose jobs are to serve and protect. that is why i introduced the universal respect act, a bill that would help prevent racial profiling practices from
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occurring. the universal respect act will establish an interagency review of federal efforts to eliminate racial profiling in the united states by amending the homeland security act to require that recipients of federal law enforcement grants and training facilities do not engage in racial profiling. simply put, mr. speaker, the universal respect act will end the practice of rewarding law enforcement programs that do not respect basic civil rights and civil liberties. we need to stay vigilant in our fight for respect in this country and that has been one of our themes. whether it's on the budget as our colleague, mr. scott, just talked about, or a plethora of bills that have been brought forward by individual members. an essential

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